@article {Girdhar800, author = {Ankur Girdhar and Vivek Kumar and Amita Singh and Balakrishnan Menon and VK Vijayan}, title = {Systemic Inflammation and Its Response to Treatment in Patients With Asthma}, volume = {56}, number = {6}, pages = {800--805}, year = {2011}, doi = {10.4187/respcare.00601}, publisher = {Respiratory Care}, abstract = {BACKGROUND: Asthma is an obstructive airway disease characterized by airway inflammation. OBJECTIVE: To measure systemic inflammation in asthma patients, and to assess the effect of treatment on systemic inflammation. METHODS: In 30 newly diagnosed non-randomized adult asthma patients we measured systemic inflammation markers (serum high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, total leukocyte count, and erythrocyte sedimentation rate) before and after a 6-week standard treatment with inhaled steroids and inhaled β2 agonist. The comparison group comprised 20 healthy control subjects. All the subjects were non-smokers. RESULTS: The measured systemic inflammation markers were higher in the asthma patients: high-sensitivity C-reactive protein 4.8 {\textpm} 6.0 mg/dL vs 1.5 {\textpm} 1.4 mg/dL, P \< .001; total leukocyte count 8,936 {\textpm} 2,592 cells/μL versus 7,741 {\textpm} 1,924 cells/μL, P \< .001; erythrocyte sedimentation rate 24.8 {\textpm} 12.3 mm/h versus 15.3 {\textpm} 6.5 mm/h, P \< .001. In the asthma patients, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein negatively correlated with percent-of-predicted FEV1 (r = -0.64, P = .001), percent-of-predicted forced vital capacity (FVC) (r = -0.39, P = .03), FEV1/FVC\% (r = -0.71, P \< .001), and percent-of-predicted forced expiratory flow during the middle half of the FVC maneuver (FEF25-75) (r = -0.51, P = .004). Total leukocyte count negatively correlated with percent-of-predicted FEV1 (r = -0.64, P = .001), percent-of-predicted FEV1/FVC (r = -0.74, P \< .001), and percent-of-predicted FEF25-75 (r = -0.58, P = .001). Body mass index positively correlated with high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (r = 0.65, P \< .001). Multiple linear regression showed significant correlation of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (r2 = 0.75) with age (β = 0.31, P = .008), body mass index (β = 0.99, P = .001), family size (β = 0.33, P = .008), and weight (β = {\textendash}0.45, P = .01). The systemic inflammation markers decreased significantly (P \< .001 for all comparisons) after 6 weeks of treatment: high-sensitivity C-reactive protein decreased from 4.8 {\textpm} 6.0 mg/dL to 2.4 {\textpm} 5.4 mg/dL, total leukocyte count decreased from 8,936 {\textpm} 2,592 cells/μL to 6,960 {\textpm} 1,785 cells/μL, and erythrocyte sedimentation rate decreased from 24.8 {\textpm} 12.3 mm/h to 15.8 {\textpm} 10.1 mm/h. CONCLUSIONS: Inhaled steroids plus inhaled β2 agonist significantly reduced systemic inflammation in asthma patients.}, issn = {0020-1324}, URL = {https://rc.rcjournal.com/content/56/6/800}, eprint = {https://rc.rcjournal.com/content/56/6/800.full.pdf}, journal = {Respiratory Care} }