Chest
Original ResearchAsthmaAssociation Between Neutrophilic Airway Inflammation and Airflow Limitation in Adults With Asthma
Section snippets
Subjects
A total of 1,197 consecutive patients seen in the respiratory outpatient clinic at Glenfield Hospital between November 1997 and March 2004 were included in the study. Glenfield Hospital is a secondary care facility covering a population of 1 million people of mixed ethnicity and social class. The main indications for referral for assessment of airway disease were diagnostic uncertainty and poor symptom control. Informed consent for the assessment of airway inflammation was obtained for all
Results
Patient demographics are given in Table 1.
Discussion
We have shown a weak relationship between prebronchodilator and postbronchodilator FEV1 and sputum measures of airway inflammation in a large heterogeneous population of adults with asthma. Postbronchodilator FEV1 was associated with sputum total neutrophil count. Smoking, ICS use, and asthma duration were also associated with a lower postbronchodilator FEV1. A raised sputum neutrophil count was associated with a lower prebronchodilator FEV1 but to a lesser extent than the differential sputum
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The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.
Dr. Shaw has received a travel grant from GlaxoSmithKline and lecture fees from Astra-Zeneca. Dr. Berry has received a travel grant from GlaxoSmithKline. Dr. Brightling has received lecture fees from Astra-Zeneca and GlaxoSmithKline and a research grant from Cambridge antibody technology. Dr. Wardlaw has received lecture fees from Altana pharmaceuticals and MSD and research grants from Wyeth, Astra-Zeneca, and GlaxoSmithKline. Dr. Pavord has received lecture fees and research grants from Astra-Zeneca and GSK.