Photo Credit: Olga Miltsova
The following is a summary of “Phenotyping of Severe Asthma in the Era of Broad-acting Anti-asthma Biologics,” published in the January 2024 issue of Allergy and Immunology by Bourdin et al.
Severe asthma poses a significant health burden with notable morbidity and mortality, even with optimal use of inhaled corticosteroids and other controller medications, leading to substantial economic impact. The management of severe, uncontrolled asthma has evolved with the introduction of biologic therapies, recommended to prevent exacerbations and enhance symptoms and health-related quality of life. Effectively addressing severe asthma necessitates understanding its clinical heterogeneity, shaped by diverse clinical and inflammatory phenotypes that mirror distinct underlying disease mechanisms. Patient phenotyping, incorporating clinical characteristics like age of onset and comorbidities, along with biomarker profiles including blood eosinophil counts, fractional exhaled nitric oxide levels, and serum total immunoglobulin E, plays a pivotal role in the differential diagnosis of asthma.
This approach is valuable in risk assessment, selecting treatment, and monitoring treatment response in asthma patients. This comprehensive review delves into the intricacies of clinical and inflammatory phenotypes in asthma, offering insights into routinely used biomarkers in clinical practice and exploring novel markers for phenotyping. The objective is to critically evaluate the significance of phenotyping in the contemporary management of severe asthma, particularly in the evolving landscape of biological therapies.
Source: sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213219824000758
