​Severe Asthma Research Program
A National Institutes of Health/ National Heart, Lung & Blood Institute sponsored network

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1.     Denlinger LC, et al. Inflammatory and Comorbid Features of Patients with Severe Asthma and Frequent Exacerbations. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2017 Feb 1;195(3):302-313. doi: 10.1164/rccm.201602-0419OC. PubMed PMID: 27556234. 

This is a multicenter cohort study of adults and children with severe asthma. Blood eosinophils, bronchodilator responsiveness, body mass index, chronic sinusitis, and gastroesophageal reflux disease were found to be associated with exacerbation-prone asthma, after adjustment for age, sex, race, center, and medication adherence, with replication of these findings in a second cohort. Exacerbation-prone asthma is a distinct phenotype with prominent extrapulmonary features that may be modifiable.
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2.     Phipatanakul W, et al. Effects of Age and Disease Severity on Systemic Corticosteroid Responses in Asthma. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2017 Jun 1;195(11):1439-1448. doi: 10.1164/rccm.201607-1453OC. PMID: 27967215 

Adults, but not children remain different after a corticosteroid injection, suggesting that children may have more responsive disease. Regardless, 20% of children and adults with severe asthma, despite already being on high dose inhaled corticosteroids have a clinically important improvement in lung function. These findings suggest differences between children and adults with severe asthma and that following these patients over time will be important to furthering our understanding of the disease and its response to therapies.

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Steroid Response & Exacerbations​