III: Abstract
Objective: to assess epithelial cell genes (TMEM178, FKBP5,
CLCA1, SERPINB2 and Periostin) in childhood asthma and their utility in
predicting asthma severity, level of control and atopic status.
Study design: 70 stable asthmatic children included who were
further subdivided into mild, moderate and severe persistent asthma,
also subdivided into controlled and partially to uncontrolled asthma and
30 apparently healthy children. All children were subjected to medical
history taking, clinical examination, complete blood count, serum IgE,
and nasal epithelial samples were collected for detection of epithelial
cell genes (TMEM178, FKBP5, CLCA1, SERPINB2 and Periostin) by real-time
PCR.
Results: TMEM178 showed significant down regulation in
asthmatic children and its expression levels decreased significantly
with the progression of asthma severity. CLCA1, SERPINB2 and Periostin
showed statistically significant up regulation in asthmatic children
with no statistically significant differences between different degrees
of asthma severity. FKBP5 showed
neither statistically significant difference with control group nor
between different degrees of asthma severity. TMEM178, CLCA1, SERPINB2
and Periostin were significantly up regulated in controlled asthma.
While, FKBP5 was significantly up regulated in partially to uncontrolled
group. CLCA1, SERPINB2 and Periostin were significantly up regulated in
atopic asthma while TMEM178 and FKBP5 showed no statistically
significant differences between atopic and non-atopic asthma.
Conclusion: TMEM178
expression gained attention as a
predictor of asthma severity. CLCA1, SERPINB2 and Periostin expression
were upregulated not only in airway epithelial cells of asthmatic
children but also in controlled and atopic asthma, whereas FKBP5 was
upregulated in partially to uncontrolled asthma.
Key wards; asthma control; Bronchial asthma; atopy; PCR