Pieta C Wijsman, Annika W M Goorsenberg, Abilash Ravi, Julia N S d'Hooghe, Barbara S Dierdorp, Tamara Dekker, Charlotte C L M van Schaik, Nick H T Ten Hacken, Pallav L Shah, Els J M Weersink, Elisabeth H Bel, Jouke T Annema, René Lutter, Peter I Bonta
BACKGROUND: Bronchial thermoplasty (BT) is a bronchoscopic treatment for severe asthma, of which the working mechanism and responder profile are partly unknown. The aim of this study is to analyse whether BT alters airway inflammation by epithelial gene expression, inflammatory cell counts and cytokines, and whether this relates to treatment response. METHODS: In this clinical trial, 28 severe asthma patients underwent bronchoscopy before and after treatment to obtain bronchial brushes and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) from treated and untreated airways...
2022: Journal of Asthma and Allergy