Associations between <i>FKBP51</i> levels and eosinophilic inflammation in steroid-naïve patients with asthma.

<p>Associations between <i>FKBP51</i> mRNA levels normalized to <i>β₂ microglobulin</i> mRNA levels and a) blood and b) sputum eosinophil proportions (n = 31 each) and c) exhaled nitric oxide levels (n = 30) in steroid-naïve patients with asthma.</p

Representative images of immunostaining of purified blood eosinophils and non-eosinophils from healthy controls.

<p>Case 1 (46-year-old female), case 2 (36-year-old female), case 3 (35-year-old male). Column A: staining with anti-FKBP51 antibody, column B: merged image of staining with anti-major basic protein antibody (MBP) and anti-FKBP51 antibody. Red indicates MBP, and green indicates FKBP51.</p

<i>FKBP51</i> levels in induced sputum cells in patients with asthma.

<p><i>FKBP51</i> mRNA levels normalized to <i>β₂ microglobulin</i> mRNA levels in induced sputum cells became progressively higher from steroid-naïve asthmatic patients (naïve, n = 31), to mild to moderate asthmatic patients on inhaled corticosteroid (mild to moderate, n = 6), and then to severe persistent asthmatic patients on inhaled corticosteroid (severe, n = 22) (p<0.0001 by the Kruskal-Wallis test). *Significant by the Wilcoxon rank-sum test. Values and bars represent means.</p

Patients’ characteristics.

<p>Values are given as means ± SD or medians (range).</p>*<p>included four patients with mild and two with moderate persistent asthma.</p>†<p>with the χ² test or analysis of variance.</p>‡<p>Patients were considered atopic when they were positive for one or more serum allergen-specific IgE antibodies against house dust, Japanese cedar pollen, mixed gramineae pollen, mixed weed pollen, mixed mold, cat dander, dog dander, and <i>Trichophyton rubrum</i>.</p>§<p>Equivalent to fluticasone propionate.</p>¶<p>by Kruskal Wallis test,</p>#<p>by unpaired t-test or analysis of variance after data were log-transformed.</p><p>Abbreviations: ICS, inhaled corticosteroid; FEV₁; forced expiratory volume in one second.</p

Representative images of immunostaining of sputum cells from asthmatic patients.

<p>Case 1 (68-year-old male) and case 2 (72-year-old female) were steroid-naïve patients. Case 3 (79-year-old male) and case 4 (55-year-old female) were patients with severe persistent asthma on high-dose inhaled corticosteroid. Column A: staining with anti-FKBP51 antibody, column B: merged image of staining with anti-major basic protein antibody (MBP) and anti-FKBP51 antibody. Red indicates MBP, and green indicates FKBP51.</p

CT-assessed large airway involvement and lung function decline in eosinophilic asthma: The association between induced sputum eosinophil differential counts and airway remodeling

<p><i>Objectives</i>: Eosinophilic asthma (EA) is a distinct clinical phenotype characterized by eosinophilic airway inflammation and airway remodeling. Few studies have used computed tomography (CT) scanning to assess the association between sputum eosinophil differential counts and airway involvement. We aimed to investigate the clinical characteristics and airway involvement of EA, and to examine the correlation between induced sputum eosinophil differential counts and CT-assessed airway remodeling. <i>Methods</i>: We retrospectively divided 63 patients with stable asthma receiving inhaled corticosteroids into 2 groups: 26 patients with EA (sputum eosinophil >3%) and 37 patients with non-eosinophilic asthma (NEA). Clinical measurements such as spirometry, fractional exhaled nitric oxide levels (FeNO), and CT-assessed indices of airway involvement were compared between the groups. Multivariate analysis was performed to identify determinants of the percentage of wall area (WA%). <i>Results</i>: The EA group had significantly longer asthma duration, lower pulmonary function, and higher FeNO than the NEA group. Also, the EA group had higher WA% and smaller airway luminal area than the NEA group. Sputum eosinophil differential counts and WA% were positively correlated. The multivariate linear regression analysis showed that the factors associated with WA% included sputum eosinophil differential counts, age, and body mass index. However, asthma duration was not associated with WA%. Our CT-assessed findings demonstrated large airway involvement in EA, and we observed a positive association between induced sputum eosinophil differential counts and WA%. <i>Conclusions</i>: The findings indicate that induced sputum eosinophil differential counts may be associated with airway remodeling in patients with stable asthma.</p