Eosinophil-derived neurotoxin in childhood asthma: correlation with disease severity.

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Eosinophil numbers and eosinophil cationic protein (ECP) levels have been proposed as markers of disease activity; however, the usefulness of eosinophil-derived neurotoxin (EDN)--another eosinophil granular protein--as a marker in pediatric asthma has not been established.

OBJECTIVE:

The authors compared the concentrations of blood eosinophil counts (TECs), serum ECP, and serum EDN to asthma symptom severity in young children.

METHODS:

Forty-three young children with asthma (Asthma group: mean age, 2.9 years; range, 1.4-5.0 years) were evaluated during both the acute and stable phases of disease. Asthma severity was measured using a symptom-scoring technique, and serum eosinophil indices (EDN and ECP levels and TECs) were determined. Nineteen age-matched controls (Control group: mean age, 2.7 years; range, 1.0-5.0 years) were used for comparison.

RESULTS:

Levels of serum EDN, serum ECP, and TECs were significantly higher in children with acute asthma compared with Controls (p < .0001). However, in stable asthma only EDN and ECP levels differed significantly when compared to Controls (p < .0001 and p < .001, respectively). When comparing acute and stable phases, EDN and TECs differed significantly (p < .0001), whereas ECP did not. Symptom scores correlated significantly with EDN (r = 0.850, p < 0.0001), ECP (r = 0.374, p < 0.01) and TECs (r = 0.457, p < 0.01) in acute asthma patients. When symptom scores were divided into three subgroups based on severity, only EDN levels showed significant differences amongst the three groups.

CONCLUSION:

These findings suggest that serum EDN is a useful marker for identifying disease activity in children with asthma. EDN levels may better reflect disease severity than ECP levels or total eosinophil counts.

• Authors: Chang-Keun Kim, Zak Callaway, Rachel Fletcher, Young Yull Koh
• Journal: The Journal of asthma : official journal of the Association for the Care of Asthma (J Asthma) Vol. 47 Issue 5 Pg. 568-73 (Jun 2010) ISSN: 1532-4303 [Electronic] England
• PMID: 20560830 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)

Chemical References

• Biomarkers
• Eosinophil-Derived Neurotoxin
• Eosinophil Cationic Protein

Topics

• Asthma (blood, diagnosis)
• Biomarkers (blood)
• Case-Control Studies
• Child, Preschool
• Disease Progression
• Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay
• Eosinophil Cationic Protein (blood, metabolism)
• Eosinophil-Derived Neurotoxin (blood, metabolism)
• Female
• Humans
• Infant
• Male
• Predictive Value of Tests
• Probability
• Prognosis
• Reference Values
• Risk Assessment
• Severity of Illness Index
• Statistics, Nonparametric