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Airway hyper-responsiveness to adenosine 5'-monophosphate in preschool-age children with asthma

Arzu Bakirtas1, Ipek Turktas

  • 1Gazi University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Pediatric Allergy and Asthma, Ankara, Turkey. arzub@gazi.edu.tr

Pediatric Allergy and Immunology : Official Publication of the European Society of Pediatric Allergy and Immunology
|August 24, 2006
PubMed

Insights

Peripheral blood eosinophilia predicts airway hyper-responsiveness to adenosine 5'-monophosphate (AMP) in young asthmatic children. This contrasts with atopy markers, offering a key insight for predicting AMP responsiveness in pediatric asthma.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Pulmonology
  • Allergy and Immunology
  • Respiratory Medicine

Background:

  • Airway hyper-responsiveness (AHR) to adenosine 5 extapostrophe-monophosphate (AMP) is linked to airway inflammation in asthma.
  • Not all asthmatic patients exhibit AMP responsiveness, necessitating identification of predictive factors.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate predictive factors for AHR to AMP in preschool-aged children with asthma.
  • To assess the relationship between AMP responsiveness and atopy, immunoglobulin E (IgE) levels, and eosinophilia.

Main Methods:

  • Retrospective analysis of 63 asthmatic children (3-6 years old) challenged with AMP.
  • Evaluated skin-prick tests, serum IgE, peripheral blood eosinophil percentage, and bronchial challenges with methacholine (MCH) and AMP.

Main Results:

  • 46% of children showed AHR to AMP; 93.7% showed AHR to MCH.
  • Peripheral blood eosinophilia was the sole significant predictor of AMP responsiveness (OR: 5.14, p=0.025).
  • AMP-responsive children had higher median serum IgE levels and more frequent peripheral blood eosinophilia compared to non-responsive children.

Conclusions:

  • Peripheral blood eosinophilia can predict AMP responsiveness in preschool-aged asthmatic children.
  • Atopy markers are not reliable predictors of AMP responsiveness in this age group.
  • Findings suggest eosinophil count is a valuable clinical indicator for predicting AMP AHR in young asthmatics.

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