University of Pittsburgh researchers make breakthrough in children's asthma treatment
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - University of Pittsburgh researchers have developed a new nasal swab test to determine Asthma subtype results for kids.
The study which was conducted by Dr. Juan Celedón a professor of pediatrics from the University of Pittsburgh along with university researchers, collected samples from 459 kids in three separate studies.
This study aims to advance asthma research.
According to the study, asthma had been classified into two known types T-2 high or T-2 low based on inflammation. However, recently T2 low has been split into T17 high and T17-low/T2-low, now making three types.
The results found that 23%-29% had T2 high while the highest percentage had T17-high which ranged from 35%-47%.
"Because asthma is a highly variable disease with different endotypes, which are driven by different immune cells and respond differently to treatments, the first step toward better therapies is accurate diagnosis of endotype," said Dr. Celedón.
In children, there have been concerns about how researchers obtain results in asthma testing. The procedure can be deemed invasive to children as it usually involves a genetic analysis of a lung tissue sample by a procedure known as bronchoscopy, usually done under general anesthesia.
Dr. Celedón mentioned that there is a better treatment for the T2-high disease because research has progressed quickly with this variant. However, the nasal swab research has made way for the T17-high variant to be diagnosed and maintained.
Researchers including Dr. Celedón are unsure if endotypes change over time in response to treatment but this research has helped in getting closer to the answer.
