Assessing airway inflammation

Assessing airway inflammation.

In the first paragraph of most reviews we are reminded that ‘asthma is an inflammatory disease characterised by . ’. This perspective has been influenced bydand, in turn, has drivenda great deal of respiratory research over the last 20 years. In the clinical sphere, studies based on factor analysis inform us that airway inflammation is an independent domain of the asthma syndrome, distinct from...

Allergic Airway Inflammation

Airway Inflammation in COPD*

Inflammation of the airways has been regarded as a cardinal pathophysiologic feature of asthma for some 20 years. This concept has been based on evidence from a variety of sources: the histologic changes in the airway wall, hyperresponsiveness of the asthmatic airways to a wide range of natural and pharmacologic agents, the presence of activated inflammatory and immune cells and their mediators...

Assessing airway inflammation in clinical practice – experience with spontaneous sputum analysis

BACKGROUND The assessment of airway inflammation for the diagnosis of asthma or COPD is still uncommon in pneumology-specialized general practices. In this respect, the measurement of exhaled nitric oxide (NO), as a fast and simple methodology, is increasingly used. The indirect assessment of airway inflammation, however, does have its limits and therefore there will always be a need for method...

Noninvasive monitoring of airway inflammation.

What we know: Various techniques are available that purport to measure aspects of airway inflammation non-invasively, including analysis of volatile molecules in exhaled breath and components of breath condensates. Adapting and validating these methods for use in young children and infants poses significant methodological problems, but progress has been made, particularly with regard to measure...