Reactions of eosinophilic granulocytes in the sputum and peripheral blood of children suffering from bronchial asthma with signs of eosinophilic and non-eosinophilic inflammation of the bronchi

Abstract

The aim of research was to improve the management of bronchial asthma in children by examining the peculiarities and diagnostic value of reaction markers of eosinophil granulocytes in the sputum and peripheral blood of patients with signs of eosinophil and non-eosinophil phenotypes of this disease. A cohort of 118 school-age children suffering from BA was examined during a period free from attacks. Group I (the main group ) included 61 schoolchildren with signs of eosinophil phenotype (EP) of asthma detected by the character of bronchial inflammation with eosinophil granulocytes present in the sputum at a level of >3%, group II (the comparison group) included 57 patients with a lower number of eosinophils in the sputum (non-eosinophil phenotype (NP) of BA). The average index of the relative content of eosinophils in the peripheral blood among the representatives of group I was 5.82 ± 0.63%, and in children with the signs of NPBA – 6.02 ± 0.74% (P > 0.05), and average indices in the groups of absolute eosinophil number in the blood were 0.37 ± 0.04 and 0.41 ± 0.05 respectively (P > 0.05). The negative reserve of NBT eosinophils in the sputum as a test to verify EPBA showed the following diagnostic values: specificity – 83.3%, predicted value of a positive result – 95.6%. IL-5 content in the blood serum of children with EPBA was 5.99 ± 1.74 ng/ml, in patients of group ІІ – only 1.99 ± 0.49 ng/ml (P < 0.05). Eosinophil cationic protein (ЕСР) in the sputum of patients of group I reached 2.72 ± 0.35 ng/ml, and in the comparison group – only 1.74 ± 0.34 ng/ml (P < 0.05), when the content of ECP in sputum was >1.0 ng/ml the risk of EPBA showed a statistically significant increase: OR = 4.13, RR = 2.02, and AR – 0.34. The efficacy of the standardized basic anti-inflammatory therapy in patients of clinical group I was higher as compared to the children with the signs of NPBA, which was illustrated by the reduced risk of inadequate control of the disease: the index of absolute risk decrease was 31.7%, relative risk – 57.1% with necessary minimal number of patients – 1.75.