Objective To explore the relationship between nasopharyngeal microecology and diseases in children with bronchial asthma. Methods A total of 41 children with asthma who were treated in Hainan Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine between November 2020 and March 2023 were retrospectively included in the study, and 26 healthy children undergoing adenoid examination in the same period were selected as the control group. Samples of nasal mucosa were collected from the anterior and medial side of inferior turbinate, and the expression of DEFB2, IL17A, TSLP, IL13, IL5 and T1R3 genes was analyzed by polymerase chain reaction. Nasal swabs were collected from the children, and the bacterial composition was analyzed by 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequencing. Results Compared with the control group, the rate of atopy cases in the asthma group increased significantly (53.7% vs. 19.2%, P<0.05). At the phylum level, compared with the control group, the phylum Chloroflexi, the phylum Patescibacteria, the phylum Tenericutes and the phylum Nitrospirae in the asthma group increased significantly (P<0.05), and the phylum Elusimicrobia decreased significantly (P<0.05). At the genus level, compared with the control group, the members of Bacillus (Fimnicutes), Ruminococcus (Fimnicutes), Rhodococcus (Actinobacteria), Acinetobacter (Proteobacteria), Moraxella (Proteobacteria) and Asaia (Proteobacteria) in the asthma group increased significantly (P<0.05), and the members of Enterococcus (Fimnicutes), Alkanindiges (Proteobacteria), Rickettsia (Proteobacteria), and Rhizobium (Proteobacteria) in the asthma group decreased significantly (P<0.05). Compared with the control group, the Shannon index of the asthma group decreased significantly (2.63±1.45 vs. 3.90±1.44; t=2.708, P=0.010). According to receiver operating characteristic curve analysis, the optimal cut-off point of Shannon index was 3.10. In all study populations, compared with children whose Shannon index was higher than the cut-off point, children whose Shannon index was lower than the cut-off point were characterized by increased expression of IL17A and T1R3 (P<0.05) and decreased expression of TSLP (P<0.05). Conclusion The composition and abundance of nasopharyngeal microbiota are significantly different between children with asthma and healthy control children.
Chronic airway diseases constitute the majority of mortality of respiratory diseases in China. The 2017 Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease has proposed a novel scheme for classification of disease severity. The mainstream for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) management has shifted to the combination of long acting β2 agonists (LABA) and long acting muscarinic cholinergic antagonists instead of inhaled corticosteroid and LABA. Tiotropium was effective in early COPD with little or even without symptoms. The manangement strategy on COPD may be moving to the upper stream (early intervention). Greater interest has been focusing on clinical phenotyping and inflammatory pathways in asthma. The greater understanding of the pathogenesis of asthma has been associated with the clinical trial progress which suggests that multiple medications targeting at Th2 pathways may provide benefits for implementing personalized therapy. Medications targeting at neutrophilic airway inflammation and blockade of KIT pathways are expected to provide novel rationales for managing asthma with different phenotypes. There has been a considerable progress in bronchiectasis research in China, particularly in terms of etiology, bacteriology and clinical phenotying investigations. The establishment of bronchiectasis research centers in China may help better understanding of the pathogenesis of bronchiectasis, thus identifying potential targets for intervention, which may provide crucial rationale for future intervention to improve the long-term prognosis.
Objective To explore the clinical and inflammatory characteristics and risk factors of severe asthma to improve clinicians' awareness of the disease. Methods The general information of patients with asthma who visited the Department of Respiratory Medicine, the First Hospital of Shanxi Medical University from May 2018 to May 2021, as well as the diagnosis and treatment of asthma, personal history, comorbidities, auxiliary examination, asthma control test (ACT) score were collected. A total of 127 patients were included, including 40 in the severe asthma group and 87 in the mild-to-moderate asthma group. Chi-square test, independent sample t test and logistic regression were used to analyze the clinical characteristics, inflammatory markers and risk factors of severe asthma. Results Compared with the patients with mild to moderate asthma, the patients with severe asthma were more older (51.0±12.0 years vs 40.7±12.8 years, P<0.05), had more smokers (32.5% vs. 14.9%, P<0.05), and more males (67.5% vs. 40.2%, P<0.05). The patients with severe asthma got poor FEV1%pred [(56.1±23.8)% vs. (93.2±18.0)%, P<0.05] and FEV1/FVC [(56.7±13.2)% vs. (75.8±9.0)%, P<0.05)], and more exacerbations in the previous year (2.7±3.1 vs. 0.1±0.4, P<0.05), lower ACT score (14.4±3.7 vs. 18.0±5.0, P<0.05), and higher blood and induced sputum eosinophil counts [(0.54±0.44)×109/L vs. (0.27±0.32)×109/L, P<0.05; (25.9±24.2)% vs. (9.8±17.5)%, P<0.05]. There was no significant difference in the proportion of neutrophils in the induced sputum or FeNO between the two groups (P>0.05). Analysis of related risk factors showed that smoking (OR=2.740, 95%CI 1.053 - 7.130), combined with allergic rhinitis (OR=14.388, 95%CI 1.486 - 139.296) and gastroesophageal reflux (OR=2.514, 95%CI 1.105 - 5.724) were risk factors for severe asthma. Conclusions Compared with patients with mild to moderate asthma, patients with severe asthma are characterized by poor lung function, more exacerbations, and a dominant eosinophil inflammatory phenotype, which is still poorly controlled even with higher level of treatment. Risk factors include smoking, allergic rhinitis, and gastroesophageal reflux, etc.
Objective To investigate the expression of aquaporin-1( AQP-1) in pulmonary tissues of asthma mice and the effects of acetazolamide( AZ) on AQP-1 expression. Methods Forty C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into five groups. Group A was treated with phosphate buffer as a non-asthmatic group.The mice in group B, C, D, and E were sensitized with ovalbumin( OVA) and challenged with aerosol OVA to establish asthma model. The mice in group B, C, and D were interperitoneally injected with AZ at doses of 300, 200, 100 mg/kg, respectively during the challenge period. Results ①Wet/dry weight ratio of lung tissues in group E was significantly higher than that in group A( P lt;0. 05) , while it was lower in B, C and D groups than group E. ②The total number of cells, the number of eosinophils, and interleukin-5( IL-5) inBALF of group E were higher than those in group A( P lt;0. 05) , and interferon-γ( IFN-γ) level was lower in group E than in group A ( P lt; 0. 05) . After AZ treatment, the total number of cells, the number of eosinophils, neutrophils and lymphocytes were significantly decreased( P lt; 0. 05) , which were positively correlated with the dose of AZ. ③AQP-1 were expressed in tracheal epithelium, microvascular endothelial cell and bronchial peripheral vascular bed, and the expression in group E was significantly higher than that in group A( P lt;0. 01) . AQP-1 expression was significantly decreased after the intervention of AZ ( P lt;0. 05) .The decrease was positively correlated with the dose of AZ. The expression of AQP-1 mRNA showed no significant difference among these groups( P gt;0. 05) . Conclusions AQP-1 was over-expressed in the lung tissue of mice with asthma. AZ can inhibit the expression of AQP-1 and relieve lung inflammatory cells infiltrationin a dose-dependent manner. It is the protein expression of AQP-1 not the AQP-1 mRNA which were significantly different in different groups, suggesting that AZ affected AQP-1 in the post-transcriptional stage.
Objective To investigate the changes of small airway function and diffusing capacity in patients with mild asthma before and after bronchial provocation test (BPT).Methods BPT was performed in suspected asthma patients with chief complaints of paroxysmal wheeze,chest tightness and cough，but with normal chest X-ray and baseline pulmonary function.BPT positive group was regarded as asthma group，while BPT negative group as control group.Lung volume，ventilatory function and diffusing capacity were measured before and after BPT and compared between the asthma and control groups.Results （A）No statistical differences were found in FEV1%，FEV1/FVC，FVC%，VC%，TLC%，FRC%，RV%，RV/TLC between the asthma and control groups before BPT.FEV1/FVC and FVC% were significantly decreased (all Plt;0.01)，while FRC% (Plt;0.05)，RV% (Plt;0.01) and RV/TLC (Plt;0.01) increased significantly in the asthma group after BPT compared with the control group.The decline rate of FEV1/FVC and FVC% and the increase rate of TLC%，RV%，RV/TLC were significantly higher in the asthma group than those in the control group (all Plt;0.01).（B）Compared with the control group，FEF25%-75% (Plt;0.05)，Vmax75% (Plt;0.01) and Vmax50% (Plt;0.05) were significantly lowered before BPT，while the above parameters and Vmax25% were significantly decreased after BPT in the asthma group (all Plt;0.01).The decline rate of FEF25%-75%，Vmax75%，Vmax50% and Vmax25% was significantly higher in the asthma group than those in the control group (all Plt;0.01).（C）There was no statistical difference in DLCO in both groups before and after BPT.Conclusions Patients with mild asthma had small airways impairment before BCT which further declined after BPT.However,no impairment of diffusion capacity was found before or after BPT.
ObjectiveTo analyze misdiagnosis of other lung diseases as asthma to avoid medical error. MethodsSixty-nine cases who were misdiagnosed as asthma between February 2012 and February 2014 were recruited. Clinical data was collected and analyzed including characteristics of symptoms, induced sputum, pulmonary function and blood tests. ResultsThere were 13 diseases misdiagnosed as asthma, and eosinophilic bronchitis(21.74%), upper airway cough syndrome(20.29%), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(13.04%), allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis(7.25%) and hyperventilation syndrome (7.25%) were the top five diseases in these cases. Some rare diseases were also found such as idiopathic hypereosinophilic syndrome and vocal cord dysfunction. ConclusionsA variety of diseases have the similar clinical symptoms with asthma. The key to avoid and reduce misdiagnosis is to strengthen the understanding of asthma and similar diseases.
Objective To analyze the characteristics of intestinal flora in patients with allergic asthma, so as to provide a theoretical basis for the development of new clinical treatment methods. Methods Fecal samples were collected from 14 patients with allergic asthma and 15 healthy people between January 2021 and December 2021, and 16S rRNA was used to analyze the composition and diversity of intestinal flora of the participants. Results There was no statistically significant difference in age, gender, BMI, or smoking history between the allergic asthma group and the control group (all P>0.05). Alpha diversity results showed that there was significant difference in the abundance of intestinal flora between the two groups, but there was no significant difference in the diversity of intestinal flora between the two groups. The results of β diversity analysis indicated that there were significant differences in the composition of bacterial flora between the allergic asthma group and the control group. The difference bacteria between the two groups at the genus level are Faecalibacterium, Roseburia, Alistipes, Sphingomonas, Dorea, Ruminococcaceae_UCG-002, Streptomyces, [Eubacterium]_venturiosum_group, Butyriococcus and Agathobacter. Conclusion Compared with healthy individuals, patients with allergic asthma have undergone significant changes in the composition of their gut microbiota, with various differential bacteria present. Among them, Roseburia and Eubacterium may be involved in the pathogenesis of allergic asthma through changes in short chain fatty acids.
ObjectiveTo investigate the medical knowledge and treatment compliance of parents of asthma children in Gaoming District, Foshan City. MethodOne hundred consecutive parents of asthma children who sought pediatric service in Gaoming People's Hospital from January to December in 2012 were surveyed by the use of Knowledge-Belief-Behavior Questionnaire developed by Capital Research Center of Pediatrics. ResultsNinety-five of the one hundred questionnaires provided useful data for analysis. Among these parents, 63.18% understood the nature of asthma being hyperactive inflammatory disease of the airways; 78.91% believed it to be controllable by regular treatment; only 21.05% of asthma children under parental guidance received inhaled corticosteroids on a regular basis; 14.74% considered their children fit for physical exercises when stabilized; 22.10% chose inhaled β2 agonists as "relievers" during attacks; 61.05% were concerned about the side effects on growth of inhaled corticosteroids and 48.42% discontinued its use against physician's instruction; 82.11% of asthma children had not been evaluated by Asthma Control Questionnaire. ConclusionsParents of asthma children in Gaoming District, Foshan City have weak links in the understanding of this condition. Though most believe it to be controllable under regular treatment, the overall compliance is unsatisfactory. Therefore, knowledge of asthma should be propagated at various public fronts in order to better improve the treatment compliance and consequently the disease control, of asthma children.
Objective To explore the inducing factors, the serum total immunoglobulin E (IgE) and specific IgE of bronchial asthma in Mianyang children, for better control of childhood asthma. Methods A total of 1 288 cases of asthma who were hospitalized in pediatric respiratory ward or asthma clinic from March 2013 to February 2016 were enrolled in the study. All cases complied with the diagnostic criteria for acute episode of childhood bronchial asthma revised in 2008 by the National Children’s Asthma Cooperative Group. The causes of asthma attack were asked by doctors, and the patient’s serum total IgE and specific IgE was tested. Results Respiratory tract infections were the most common cause (1 057 cases, 82.1%), which was followed by weather changes and exposure to cold air (694 cases, 53.9%), and then food (304, 23.6%). The risk of asthma induced by respiratory infections was highest in <2-year old group (358 cases, 97.5%), and lowest in 10-14-year old group (42 cases, 33.3%), with a decreasing trend with age (χ2trend=239.865, P<0.001). Food was also an important inducing factor, and seafood was the most frequent (121 cases, 39.8%). Total serum IgE was positive in 868 cases (67.4%). The positive rate in <2-year old group (52.6%) was the lowest, and the positive rate in 10-14-year old group (89.7%) was the highest, with an increasing trend with age (χ2trend=88.055, P<0.001). Serum specific IgE was positive in 733 cases (56.9%). The positive rate in <2-year old group (37.1%) was the lowest, and the positive rate in 10-14-year old group (92.6%) was the highest, with an increasing trend with age (χ2trend=150.361, P<0.001). The progressive rate of dust mites in inhalation and dietary allergens was highest (668 cases, 51.8%), which was followed by house dust (431 cases, 33.4%). Conclusions The most common inducing factor for bronchial asthma in Mianyang children is respiratory tract infection, followed by the weather changes and cold air exposure, and then food. Detection of serum total IgE and specific IgE is more valuable in elderly children with bronchial asthma.
Objective To analyze the incidence and mortality of asthma in China from 1990 to 2019, and to explore the influence of age, period and cohort on the incidence and mortality of asthma. Methods Using the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2019 database, the incidence and mortality of asthma in China from 1990 to 2019 were analyzed, and the time variation trend of age-standardized incidence and mortality was analyzed by using Joinpoint software, and the average annual variation percentage was calculated. The age-period-cohort model was constructed to analyze the influence of age, period and birth cohort on the incidence and mortality trend of asthma. Results In 2019, the incidence of asthma in China was 264.44/100 000, and the mortality rate was 1.74/100 000. The incidence rate of asthma in males (300.94/100 000) and mortality rate (1.99/100 000) were higher than those in females (226.51/100 000 and 1.49/100 000). From 1990 to 2019, the age-standardized incidence of asthma in China showed a downward trend, but the trend was not statistically significant (P>0. 05), and the age-standardized mortality showed a downward trend, with an average annual decrease of 4.90%, with a statistically significant trend (P<0.05). The results of age effect showed that the incidence of asthma in China showed a downward trend, and the death first showed a downward trend, and then increased in the age group of 55-59. The results of period effect show that the risk of asthma is decreasing, and then it is increasing from 2015 to 2019, and the risk of asthma mortality is decreasing. The results of cohort effect show that the later people are born, the lower the risk of asthma onset and death. The death of asthma is attributed to behavioral risk, high body mass index and tobacco, and the occupational risk tends to decrease. ConclusionsFrom 1990 to 2019, the incidence and mortality of asthma in China showed a decreasing trend, and the incidence and mortality of men were higher than that of women. The risk factors of behavioral risk, high body mass index and tobacco were still on the rise, so corresponding measures should be taken to carry out early screening, early detection, and early treatment for key populations.