New model IDs inflammatory asthma without sputum

(HealthDay)—A new prediction model identifies eosinophilic asthma without the need for sputum induction, according to a study published online Dec. 28 in Allergy.

Bart Hilvering, M.D., from University Medical Centre Utrecht in the Netherlands, and colleagues compared the activation state of eosinophils and neutrophils in peripheral blood to sputum analysis to assess asthma phenotype and monitor disease. The training cohort included 115 adult asthma patients, while the validation cohort included 34 patients.

The researchers found that a combination of data from multiple sources (blood eosinophil count, fractional exhaled nitric oxide, an asthma control questionnaire, medication use, nasal polyposis, aspirin sensitivity, and neutrophil/eosinophil responsiveness upon stimulation with formyl-methionyl-leucyl phenylalanine) identified sputum eosinophilia with 90.5 percent sensitivity and 91.5 percent specificity in the training cohort. Sensitivity and specificity were 77 and 71 percent, respectively, in the validation cohort, which had a relatively high percentage of patients on oral corticosteroids.

"The proposed prediction model identifies eosinophilic asthma without the need for sputum induction," the authors write. "The model forms a non-invasive and externally validated test to assess eosinophilic asthma in patients not on oral corticosteroids."