The recommendations in this Guideline reflect the currently available evidence. New clinical research data will necessitate a revision and update in the future.

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women are more likely to be diagnosed with asthma and suffer greater morbidity than men. The physiologic mechanisms for these differences are not well understood. Understanding sex-related differences in asthma and providing patients with education geared toward these disparities are important in establishing effective, individualized asthma management strategies for all patients.

Varsity athletes show a high incidence of EIB when objectively diagnosed by a variety of pulmonary function criteria. Sex of the athlete or ventilation demands of the sport does not affect the prevalence of EIB. The use of symptoms to diagnose EIB is not predictive of whether athletes have objectively documented EIB. Empiric diagnosis and treatment of EIB on the basis of subjective symptoms alone may lead to an increased number of inaccurate diagnoses and increased morbidity.

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) preferentially infects respiratory epithelium and is an important cause of lower respiratory tract infections in young children. RSV induces the production of interleukin (IL)-8 in airway epithelial cells; however, the mechanism of this induction is not known. To define the mechanism by which RSV induces IL-8 gene activation, A549 epithelial cells were transfected with plasmids containing serial deletions of the 5'-flanking region of the IL-8 gene and then exposed to RSV for 24 h. A positive cooperative effect of the binding sites for the transcription factors, nuclear factor (NF)-kappa B and NF-IL-6, was observed. Mutations in either region abates responsiveness of the promoter to RSV infection. RSV also increases activation of the NF-kappa B and NF-IL-6 transcription factors. These data suggest that RSV may increase IL-8 production in airway epithelium partly via activation of the transcription factors NF-kappa B and NF-IL-6.