IMMUNOLOGICAL ALTERATION IN ASTHMATIC CHILDREN AFTER INHALED CORTICOSTEROID THERAPY.
Enas R. Abdel Hameed*; Zakaria A. AL Khayat‡; Hala M. Salah ElDin*; Samar M. El-Mamoon*; Tamer A. Abd El-Hameed†; Ahmed F. Amer*
Departments of Child Health* and Medical Biochemistry‡, National Research Center; Department of Pediatrics, Cairo University†
Objective: A prospective, randomized, open study aimed to study the plasma level of macrophage-derived chemokine (MDC) in asthmatic children and to study the effect of inhaled corticosteroids on its level; in correlation with total serum IgE, absolute eosinophilic count and spirometric parameters Methods: Fifty children with mild to moderate persistent asthma aged from 7 to 13 years were recruited from Pulmonology and Allergy clinic of Specialized Children Hospital, Cairo University, and studied in comparison to fifty non- atopic, non-asthmatic children. Results: Plasma MDC levels were significantly higher in asthmatic children than in controls. Plasma MDC concentrations were significantly higher in asthmatic children before start of ICS therapy than after 8 weeks of daily ICS therapy in the same children. Non-significant correlations were found between plasma MDC level and other parameters included in the study (Absolute eosinophil count “AEC”, total serum IgE, forced vital capacity “FVC”, forced expiratory volume in one second “FEV1”, FEV1/FVC, peak expiratory flow “PEF” and forced expiratory flow at 25-75% of FVC “FEF25-75%”). Conclusion: These findings imply that plasma MDC level may be directly associated with diagnosis of asthma. As plasma MDC is a less invasive biomarker, therefore, its level could be used as a biomarker for asthma monitoring; it can also be used as an inflammatory marker which can reflect ongoing inflammation in the bronchi.
June 2011