Premium
Does airway allergic inflammation pre‐exist before late onset wheeze in children?
Author(s) -
Thavagnanam Surendran,
Williamson Grace,
Ennis Madeleine,
Heaney Liam G.,
Shields Michael D.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
pediatric allergy and immunology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.269
H-Index - 89
eISSN - 1399-3038
pISSN - 0905-6157
DOI - 10.1111/j.1399-3038.2010.01052.x
Subject(s) - medicine , wheeze , asymptomatic , asthma , allergy , eosinophil , bronchoalveolar lavage , immunology , pediatrics , immunoglobulin e , hay fever , antibody , lung
Thavagnanam S, Williamson G, Ennis M, Heaney LG, Shields MD. Does airway allergic inflammation pre‐exist before late onset wheeze in children?
Pediatr Allergy Immunol 2010: 21: 1002–1007.
© 2010 John Wiley & Sons A/S Epidemiological studies show that some children develop wheezing after 3 yr of age which tends to persist. It is unknown how this starts or whether there is a period of asymptomatic inflammation. The aim of this study is to determine whether lower airway allergic inflammation pre‐exists in late onset childhood wheeze (LOCW). Follow‐up study of children below 5 yr who had a non‐bronchoscopic bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) performed during elective surgery. The children had acted as normal controls. A modified ISAAC questionnaire was sent out at least 7 yr following the initial BAL, and this was used to ascertain whether any children had subsequently developed wheezing or other atopic disease (eczema, allergic rhinitis). Cellular and cytokine data from the original BAL were compared between those who never wheezed (NW) and those who had developed LOCW. Eighty‐one normal non‐asthmatic children were recruited with a median age of 3.2 . Of the 65 children contactable, 9 (16.7%) had developed wheeze, 11 (18.5%) developed eczema and 14 (22.2%) developed hay fever. In five patients, wheeze symptoms developed mean 3.3‐ yr (range: 2–5 yr) post‐BAL. Serum IgE and blood eosinophils were not different in the LOCW and NW, although the blood white cell count was lower in the LOCW group. The median BAL eosinophil % was significantly increased in the patients with LOCW (1.55%, IQR: 0.33 to 3.92) compared to the children who never wheezed, NW (0.1, IQR: 0.0 to 0.3, p = 0.01). No differences were detected for other cell types. There were no significant differences in BAL cytokine concentrations between children with LOCW and NW children. Before late onset childhood wheezing developed, we found evidence of elevated eosinophils in the airways. These data suggest pre‐existent airways inflammation in childhood asthma some years before clinical presentation.