A significant portion of COVID-19 sufferers have asthma. The impacts of asthma on COVID-19 progression are still unclear but a modifying effect is plausible as respiratory viruses are acknowledged to be an important trigger for asthma exacerbations and a different, potentially type-2 biased, immune response might occur. In this study, we compared the blood circulating cytokine response to COVID-19 infection in patients with and without asthma. Plasma samples and clinical information were collected from 80 patients with mild (25), severe (36) or critical (19) COVID-19 and 29 healthy subjects at the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, UK. The concentrations of 51 circulating proteins in the plasma samples were measured with Luminex and compared between groups. Total 16 pre-existing asthma patients were found (3 in mild, 10 in severe, and 3 in critical COVID-19). The prevalence of asthma in COVID-19 severity groups did not suggest a clear correlation between asthma and COVID-19 severity. Within the same COVID-19 severity group, no differences were observed between patients with or without asthma on oxygen saturation, CRP, neutrophil counts, and length of hospital stay. The mortality in the COVID-19 patients with asthma (12.5%) was not higher than that in patients without asthma (17.2%). No significant difference was found between asthmatic and non-asthmatic in circulating cytokine response in different COVID-19 severity groups, including the cytokines strongly implicated in COVID-19 such as CXCL10, IL-6, CCL2, and IL-8. Pre-existing asthma was not associated with an enhanced cytokine response after COVID-19 infection, disease severity or mortality.

中文翻译：

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预先存在的哮喘作为一种合并症不会改变 COVID-19 的细胞因子反应和严重程度

很大一部分 COVID-19 患者患有哮喘。哮喘对 COVID-19 进展的影响仍不清楚，但可能会产生改善作用，因为呼吸道病毒被认为是哮喘恶化的重要触发因素，并且可能会发生不同的、可能偏向 2 型的免疫反应。在这项研究中，我们比较了哮喘患者和非哮喘患者对 COVID-19 感染的血液循环细胞因子反应。从英国牛津约翰拉德克利夫医院的 80 名轻度 (25)、重度 (36) 或危重 (19) COVID-19 患者和 29 名健康受试者中收集血浆样本和临床信息。用 Luminex 测量血浆样品中 51 种循环蛋白的浓度并进行组间比较。共发现 16 名既往哮喘患者（轻度 3 名，重度 10 名，和 3 在关键的 COVID-19 中）。COVID-19 严重程度组的哮喘患病率并未表明哮喘与 COVID-19 严重程度之间存在明确的相关性。在同一 COVID-19 严重程度组中，患有或未患有哮喘的患者在氧饱和度、CRP、中性粒细胞计数和住院时间方面没有观察到差异。COVID-19 哮喘患者的死亡率（12.5%）不高于非哮喘患者（17.2%）。在不同的 COVID-19 严重程度组中，哮喘和非哮喘患者的循环细胞因子反应没有显着差异，包括与 COVID-19 密切相关的细胞因子，如 CXCL10、IL-6、CCL2 和 IL-8。既往哮喘与 COVID-19 感染、疾病严重程度或死亡率后细胞因子反应增强无关。COVID-19 严重程度组的哮喘患病率并未表明哮喘与 COVID-19 严重程度之间存在明确的相关性。在同一 COVID-19 严重程度组中，患有或未患有哮喘的患者在氧饱和度、CRP、中性粒细胞计数和住院时间方面没有观察到差异。COVID-19 哮喘患者的死亡率（12.5%）不高于非哮喘患者（17.2%）。在不同的 COVID-19 严重程度组中，哮喘和非哮喘患者的循环细胞因子反应没有显着差异，包括与 COVID-19 密切相关的细胞因子，如 CXCL10、IL-6、CCL2 和 IL-8。既往哮喘与 COVID-19 感染、疾病严重程度或死亡率后细胞因子反应增强无关。COVID-19 严重程度组的哮喘患病率并未表明哮喘与 COVID-19 严重程度之间存在明确的相关性。在同一 COVID-19 严重程度组中，患有或未患有哮喘的患者在氧饱和度、CRP、中性粒细胞计数和住院时间方面没有观察到差异。COVID-19 哮喘患者的死亡率（12.5%）不高于非哮喘患者（17.2%）。在不同的 COVID-19 严重程度组中，哮喘和非哮喘患者的循环细胞因子反应没有显着差异，包括与 COVID-19 密切相关的细胞因子，如 CXCL10、IL-6、CCL2 和 IL-8。既往哮喘与 COVID-19 感染、疾病严重程度或死亡率后细胞因子反应增强无关。