Differences between adult patients with severe early-onset and late-onset asthma have not been well studied. To determine the phenotypic distinction regarding age at onset in patients with severe asthma. The present study enrolled thirty-two patients with severe early-onset (onset age < 12 years) asthma and thirty-two patients with severe late-onset (onset age > 12 years) asthma. Severe asthma was defined according to Global Initiative for Asthma criteria. The clinical, spirometric, and laboratory parameters were collected for group comparisons. Among the 64 patients included (mean age, 46.22 ± 13.90 years; 53.1% male), the mean percent of predicted forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) was 68.43 ± 20.55%. Patients with severe early-onset asthma had a younger age, longer duration of asthma, higher rate of family history, and better small-airway function (MEF25% and MMEF75/25%) compared with severe late-onset asthma. Furthermore, levels of serum IL-17 and sputum neutrophil percentage were significantly higher for patients with severe early-onset asthma (P = 0.016, 0.033, respectively). Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that increased serum IL-17 (odds ratio = 1.065, P = 0.016) was independently associated with severe early-onset asthma. The combination of serum IL-17 and sputum neutrophil percentage yielded a sensitivity of 80.0% and a specificity of 86.7% for identifying patients with severe early-onset asthma. Patients with severe early-onset asthma exhibit elevated levels of serum IL-17 and sputum neutrophil percentage, suggesting a potential role in the pathogenesis of severe early-onset phenotype.

中文翻译：

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血清 IL-17 水平和诱导痰中性粒细胞百分比升高与成人严重早发性哮喘相关


严重早发性哮喘和晚发性哮喘成年患者之间的差异尚未得到充分研究。确定严重哮喘患者发病年龄的表型差异。本研究纳入了 32 名患有严重早发性（发病年龄 < 12 岁）哮喘的患者和 32 名患有严重迟发性（发病年龄 > 12 岁）哮喘的患者。严重哮喘是根据全球哮喘倡议标准定义的。收集临床、肺活量测定和实验室参数用于组间比较。在纳入的 64 名患者中（平均年龄，46.22 ± 13.90 岁；53.1% 为男性），预测 1 秒用力呼气量 (FEV1) 的平均百分比为 68.43 ± 20.55%。与重度迟发性哮喘相比，重度早发性哮喘患者年龄更小，哮喘持续时间更长，有家族史的比例更高，小气道功能更好（MEF25%和MMEF75/25%）。此外，严重早发性哮喘患者的血清IL-17水平和痰中性粒细胞百分比显着较高（分别P = 0.016、0.033）。多重logistic回归分析显示，血清IL-17升高（比值比= 1.065，P = 0.016）与严重的早发性哮喘独立相关。血清 IL-17 和痰中性粒细胞百分比的组合对于识别严重早发性哮喘患者的敏感性为 80.0%，特异性为 86.7%。严重早发型哮喘患者的血清 IL-17 和痰中性粒细胞百分比水平升高，表明其在严重早发型表型的发病机制中具有潜在作用。