Delineating asthma according to inflammation phenotypes with a focus on paucigranulocytic asthma.
Level 5 - mechanism / opinion, no new human data
Narrative review synthesizing existing literature without systematic search criteria or primary human data.
PubMed 37185590 · doi:10.1097/CM9.0000000000002456
What was done
The authors conducted a narrative review summarizing existing literature and ongoing research regarding four asthma inflammatory phenotypes (eosinophilic, neutrophilic, mixed-granulocytic, and paucigranulocytic), focusing on the distribution, phenotypic discrimination, stability, biomarkers, pathophysiology, and therapeutic approaches for paucigranulocytic asthma.
What was found
No quantitative data, sample sizes, or effect estimates were reported in the abstract. The abstract notes that paucigranulocytic asthma may be one of the most common phenotypes in stable asthma, but existing knowledge regarding its clinical characteristics, surrogate biomarkers, and treatment remains fragmented and less studied than other inflammatory phenotypes.
Why it matters
Clarifying the distinct mechanisms and biomarkers of paucigranulocytic asthma is essential for developing tailored treatments for patients who do not respond to therapies targeted at eosinophilic or neutrophilic airway inflammation.
Limits
As presented in the abstract, this is a non-systematic narrative review with no primary empirical data, quantitative synthesis, or reported search methodology. Specific diagnostic criteria, biomarker performance metrics, and clinical outcomes were not provided.
Cited by
- context There are approximately seven or eight distinct subtypes of asthma, with variations including eosinophil-predominant or neutrophil-predominant profiles.