Clinical and biological characteristics of the French COBRA cohort of adult subjects with asthma

Abstract

The COhort of BRonchial obstruction and Asthma (COBRA) is a longitudinal cohort that involves 12 French academic institutions. DNA, serum samples and clinical data are collected at entry and every 6 months thereafter.Of 1080 patients with asthma recruited between 2007 and 2015, 401 had mild/moderate and 613 had severe asthma. In cross-sectional analyses, compared with patients with milder disease, patients with severe asthma had more symptoms, exacerbations, hospitalisations and visits to the emergency department during the preceding 12 months, higher numbers of blood eosinophils, and more comorbidities. More than 60% of patients with severe asthma were therapy-uncontrolled at entry, and 152 of them were being treated with omalizumab. In addition, patients with asthma who had the highest eosinophilia levels (>300/mm3) had shorter asthma duration, lower lung function, and higher rates of severe exacerbations and unacceptable asthma control than patients with lower eosinophil counts.Longitudinal analyses performed in 427 patients with asthma with at least three differential blood cell counts demonstrated that both eosinophil numbers and eosinophil increase over time were associated with the number of exacerbations occurring until the next visit and with Juniper score.Studies with the COBRA cohort will help to improve knowledge concerning the risk and biological factors associated with asthma severity and to better understand their influence on the disease trajectory.

CCR10+ILC2s with ILC1‐like properties exhibit a protective function in severe allergic asthma

“…Blood samples were collected at the Bichat Claude Bernard Hospital (Paris, France) after approval of the studies protocols (study ref. #120147‐30 and COBRA [Cohorte Obstruction BRonchique et Asthme] cohort) by a local ethical committee. Specifically, blood from 24 non‐allergic patients, including 14 patients exhibiting severe non‐allergic asthma (GINA>3), and 38 individuals with allergic rhinitis (AR) without (n = 10) or with mild (GINA≤2, n = 16) or severe asthma (GINA>3, n = 12) was analyzed (Table ).…”

Goblet cell hyperplasia as a feature of neutrophilic asthma

“…In 2010‐2012, we enrolled 59 patients with asthma referred to our specialized tertiary expert centre for asthma management who consented to participate in the COBRA cohort (IDRCB:2008‐A00294‐51) . Thirty‐two of them consented to undergo bronchoscopy examination.…”

Characteristics of patients with severe, uncontrolled, eosinophilic asthma enrolled in a French cohort

“…This study was a retrospective analysis of the COBRA study, an ongoing French multicenter, prospective, noninterven tional, observational study of adult patients (≥18–80 years old) with either asthma or COPD with 10 years of followup 14,15. A detailed description of the COBRA study design has been published 15.…”

“…A detailed description of the COBRA study design has been published 15. Patients were enrolled into COBRA regardless of disease severity.…”

“…Patients eligible for this study were derived from the Asthma and Bronchial Obstruction Cohort (COBRA), a French multi-center, prospective cohort of patients that includes those with COPD and approximately 1,000 patients with asthma 14,15…”