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Menopausal asthma: a new biological phenotype?
Author(s) -
Foschino Barbaro M. P.,
Costa V. R.,
Resta O.,
Prato R.,
Spanevello A.,
Palladino G. P.,
Martinelli D.,
Carpagnano G. E.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
allergy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.363
H-Index - 173
eISSN - 1398-9995
pISSN - 0105-4538
DOI - 10.1111/j.1398-9995.2009.02314.x
Subject(s) - asthma , medicine , exhaled breath condensate , sputum , allergy , inflammation , eosinophilic , pathophysiology of asthma , urinary system , immunology , pathology , tuberculosis
To cite this article: Foschino Barbaro MP, Costa VR, Resta O, Prato R, Spanevello A, Palladino GP, Martinelli D, Carpagnano GE. Menopausal asthma: a new biological phenotype? Allergy 2010; 65 : 1306–1312. Abstract Background: Female hormones play an important role in women’s lung health, especially in asthma pathophysiology. Although a growing interest has recently been aroused in asthma related to short‐term reproductive states, menopausal asthma has been little studied in the past. The aim of the present study was to explore airway inflammation in menopausal asthmatic women in a noninvasive manner. Methods: Forty consecutive women with menopausal asthma, 35 consecutive women with premenopausal asthma and 30 age‐matched healthy controls were enrolled in the study. Urinary LTE‐4, induced sputum inflammatory cells, and exhaled LTE‐4, IL‐6, pH, and NO levels were measured in all the subjects enrolled. Results: Women with menopausal asthma showed decreased estradiol concentrations, high sputum neutrophils, and exhaled IL‐6. Women with premenopausal asthma presented instead an essentially eosinophilic inflammatory pattern. Higher urine and breath condensate LTE‐4 concentrations were found in premenopausal and menopausal asthma compared to controls. Conclusion: Our results substantiate the existence of a new biological phenotype of menopausal asthma that is mainly characterized by neutrophilic airways inflammation and shares several characteristics of the severe asthma phenotype.