Gaston Benjamin
Universit of Virginia School of Medicine, Pediatric Respiratory Medicine, Charlottes, VA 22908-0386, USA.
Biochim Biophys Acta. 2011 Nov;1810(11):1017-24. doi: 10.1016/j.bbagen.2011.06.008. Epub 2011 Jun 22.
Asthma is not one disease. Different patients have biochemically distinct phenotypes.
Biomarker analysis was developed to identify inflammation in the asthmatic airway. It has led to a renewed interest in biochemical abnormalities in the asthmatic airway. The biochemical determinants of asthma heterogeneity are many. Examples include decreased activity of superoxide dismutases; increased activity of eosinophil peroxidase, S-nitrosoglutathione reductase, and arginases; decreased airway pH; and increased levels of asymmetric dimethyl arginine.
New discoveries suggest that biomarkers such as exhaled nitric oxide reflect complex airway biochemistry. This biochemistry can be informative and therapeutically relevant.
Improved understanding of airway biochemistry will lead to new tests to identify biochemically unique subpopulations of patients with asthma. It will also likely lead to new, targeted treatments for these specific asthma subpopulations. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled Biochemistry of Asthma.
哮喘并非单一疾病。不同患者具有生物化学特征各异的表型。
生物标志物分析旨在识别哮喘气道中的炎症。这引发了对哮喘气道生物化学异常的新关注。哮喘异质性的生物化学决定因素众多。例如，超氧化物歧化酶活性降低；嗜酸性粒细胞过氧化物酶、S-亚硝基谷胱甘肽还原酶和精氨酸酶活性增加；气道pH值降低；不对称二甲基精氨酸水平升高。
新发现表明，诸如呼出一氧化氮等生物标志物反映了复杂的气道生物化学。这种生物化学可能具有信息价值且与治疗相关。
对气道生物化学的深入理解将催生新的检测方法，以识别哮喘患者中具有独特生物化学特征的亚群。这也可能为这些特定的哮喘亚群带来新的靶向治疗方法。本文是名为“哮喘生物化学”的特刊的一部分。
