Medicines Evaluation Unit, University of Manchester, The Langley Building, Southmoor Road, Manchester M23 9QZ, UK.
Lung. 2012 Aug;190(4):459-62. doi: 10.1007/s00408-012-9383-y. Epub 2012 Apr 8.
There are few studies describing the phenotype of late-onset asthma (LOA). We sought to investigate the clinical and induced sputum characteristics of patients with LOA.
Nineteen patients with LOA diagnosed after the age of 40 years and 19 patients with early-onset asthma (EOA) diagnosed before the age of 20 years were recruited. Subjects performed lung function, reversibility, asthma control questionnaire (ACQ), exhaled nitric oxide (NO), and sputum induction.
The FEV(1) % predicted was lower in EOA compared to LOA (87.6 % vs. 103 %, respectively, p = 0.02), while ACQ scores were significantly higher in EOA (1.46 vs. 0.89, respectively, p = 0.03). NO was not different between the groups, but the percentage neutrophil counts were lower in the EOA group compared to the LOA group (36.6 vs. 57.3, respectively, p = 0.02). Asthma duration, but not age, was negatively associated with lung function (r = -0.4, p = 0.01). Neutrophil counts in healthy age-matched controls (n = 10) were similar to EOA and lower than LOA.
Raised sputum neutrophils in LOA are not an indicator of severe disease and could be a characteristic feature of this asthma phenotype. Duration of asthma influences lung function.
描述迟发性哮喘（LOA）表型的研究较少。我们旨在研究 LOA 患者的临床和诱导痰特征。
招募了 19 名 40 岁以后确诊的 LOA 患者和 19 名 20 岁以前确诊的早发性哮喘（EOA）患者。受试者进行肺功能、可逆性、哮喘控制问卷（ACQ）、呼气一氧化氮（NO）和痰诱导。
EOA 的 FEV(1)预测值低于 LOA（分别为 87.6%和 103%，p=0.02），而 EOA 的 ACQ 评分明显更高（分别为 1.46 和 0.89，p=0.03）。两组之间的 NO 没有差异，但 EOA 组的中性粒细胞百分比低于 LOA 组（分别为 36.6%和 57.3%，p=0.02）。哮喘持续时间，而不是年龄，与肺功能呈负相关（r=-0.4，p=0.01）。健康年龄匹配对照者（n=10）的中性粒细胞计数与 EOA 相似，低于 LOA。
LOA 中升高的痰中性粒细胞不是疾病严重程度的指标，可能是这种哮喘表型的特征。哮喘的持续时间影响肺功能。
