Airway hyper-responsiveness in young adults with asthma that remitted either during or before adolescence

More than 50% of patients with childhood asthma enter clinical remission by puberty, although 40-50% of these people will probably develop asthma symptoms during early adulthood. The mechanism of relapsing asthma in early adulthood remains unclear. This study determined the characteristics of young adults whose asthma remitted either during or before adolescence.

A comparative study was performed on 24 students whose childhood asthma had gone into clinical remission by puberty (remission group), 25 atopic students with no history of asthma (atopy group) and 19 non-atopic students without allergic diseases (control group). Examinations included spirometry, levels of serum-specific IgE-antibodies, airway responsiveness to methacholine, exhaled nitric oxide (eNO) and evidence of airway inflammation in induced sputum.

Airway responsiveness (P < 0.01), eosinophil counts in sputum (P < 0.05) and the prevalence of sensitization to Dermatophagoides forinae (P < 0.01) were significantly higher, and FEF(25-75%) and FEF(75%) (P < 0.01) were significantly lower in the remission group than in the atopy and control groups. Furthermore, 50% and 33% of the remission group had airway hyper-responsiveness (AHR) and sputum eosinophilia, respectively. The eNO levels in the remission (P < 0.01) and atopy (P < 0.05) groups were significantly higher than in controls. Remission group members with AHR had a significantly longer period of childhood asthma, a shorter period of remission and greater airway eosinophilic inflammation than those without AHR (P < 0.05).

One half of young adults with childhood asthma that remitted either during or before adolescence continued to have evidence of AHR and airway eosinophilic inflammation, and might be at risk of future relapse.