Gender-Specific Asthma Treatment

Choi

et al. 2017

Korean J Intern Med

Background/AimsMucosal immunoglobulin A (IgA) may prevent the entrance of allergens. This study examined the relationship between serum IgA levels (within the normal range) and sensitization to house dust mites (HDM) or airway hyper-responsiveness (AHR).MethodsThe clinical records of 1,136 adult patients with suspected asthma, for whom test data for serum IgA level and methacholine-AHR were available, were reviewed retrospectively. The AHR/allergy indices were compared among patient groups with low (<140 mg/dL, group I), intermediate (140 to 280 mg/dL, group II), or high (≥280 mg/dL, group III) IgA levels in serum.ResultsThe HDM skin sensitization rate progressively decreased from 30.0% in group I (n = 139) to 26.8% and 18.5% in groups II (n = 684) and III (n = 313), respectively (p = 0.003). Although both the HDM sensitization degree and the IgA level were significantly related to age, the adjusted odds ratio (OR) of association of a high IgA level (≥ 280 mg/dL) with HDM sensitization was significant (0.617; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.415 to 0.916; p = 0.017). Among younger subjects (≤ 45 years of age) with AHR, the prevalence of moderate/severe AHR progressively decreased (70.6%, 52.3%, and 47.1% in groups I, II, and III [n = 34, 149, and 51]), respectively (p = 0.045). The IgA < 140 mg/dL was a significant risk factor for moderate/severe AHR (OR, 2.306; 95% CI, 1.049 to 5.071; p = 0.038).ConclusionsSensitization to HDM and methacholine-AHR were significantly associated with serum IgA levels in suspected asthmatics, even when those levels were normal.

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Relationship between serum IgA level and allergy/asthma

Choi

et al. 2017

Korean J Intern Med

“…Asthma is known to affect males more in childhood and females more in adulthood (1)(2)(3). Studies supporting this observation have focused on four epidemiologic aspects of the disease: (1) cross-sectional prevalence (4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17), (2) onset (18)(19)(20), (3) remission and relapse (21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30)(31), and (4) healthcare use (32)(33)(34)(35)(36)(37)(38)(39)(40).…”

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confidence: 99%

Natural Progression of Childhood Asthma Symptoms and Strong Influence of Sex and Puberty

Fu¹,

Freishtat

Gordish‐Dressman

et al. 2014

Annals ATS

Rationale: Asthma prevalence, onset, remission and relapse, and healthcare use have been intensively studied. However, asthma symptom progression through childhood and adolescence has not been well studied, in part due to the challenges in obtaining consistent and robust long-term follow-up data on a large series of subjects with asthma.Objectives: To use the asthma diary symptom data of the Childhood Asthma Management Program placebo group (5 yr, 418 subjects, and total 564,518 records) to establish sex-specific highresolution time courses of the natural progression of asthma symptoms through childhood and adolescence.Methods: We used the asthma diary symptom code as a measure of daily disease severity. Annual records of Tanner stage were used to determine the influence of puberty on severity. A data alignment technique was used to derive 13-year time courses of mean symptoms and mean Tanner stage.Measurements and Main Results: Data analyses showed three age-and sex-related phases of asthma symptom progression: Phase 1 (ages 5 and 6 yr)-greater severity in boys; Phase 2 (ages 7 to 9 yr)-no sex difference in severity; and Phase 3 (age 10-17 yr)-greater severity in girls. The continuous decline of symptoms in both sexes stops abruptly at the onset of puberty. Conclusions:The severity of asthma symptoms varies through childhood and adolescence, and patterns differ by sex. Puberty has a strong influence on symptom progression in both sexes. Progression of symptoms is a distinct aspect of asthma epidemiology.

“…Data concerning allergic diseases are more ambiguous [2]. While many studies have evaluated the association between specific genetic variants and allergic diseases in general, relatively few studies have assessed the role that sex might play in modifying these associations, although some lines of evidence suggest that sex may influence the expression and course of allergic diseases [3][4][5][6]. Therefore, an individual's gender specific susceptibility to suffer from allergies is still worth comprehensive investigation.…”

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confidence: 99%

The Prevalence of Allergic Diseases in Poland – the Results of the PMSEAD Study in Relation to Gender Differences

Liebhart¹,

Dobek²,

Małolepszy³

et al. 2014

Adv Clin Exp Med

Background. Males and females exhibit different susceptibility to allergic diseases. Objectives. The aim of the study was to evaluate gender-related differences in the prevalence of allergic diseases in Poland. Material and Methods. To evaluate this problem, data from the Polish Multicenter Study of the Epidemiology of Allergic Diseases (PMSEAD) was analyzed. There were assessed 16,238 individuals, aged 3 to 80 years, among them 12,970 adults and 3,268 children. Results. In adults the prevalence of asthma was 5.4%, seasonal allergic rhinitis 8.5%, persistent allergic rhinitis 3.0%, atopic dermatitis 1.6%, contact dermatitis 2.0%, and drug allergy 8.6%. In children asthma was diagnosed in 8.6% of the individuals assessed, seasonal allergic rhinitis in 8.6%, persistent allergic rhinitis in 2.1%, atopic dermatitis in 4.7%, contact dermatitis in 1.1% and drug allergy in 8.9%. Among the children in the sample, significantly higher prevalence rates were found in boys than in girls for asthma (10.9% vs. 6.3%; OR = 1.81; p < 0.001), seasonal allergic rhinitis (9.8% vs 7.4%; OR = 1.37, p = 0.018) and persistent allergic rhinitis (2.6% vs. 1.5%; OR = 1.74, p = 0.029). When comparing the differences by gender among adults, there was a lower proportion of male than female subjects suffering from asthma (4.9% vs. 5.8%; OR = 0.83, p = 0.018), seasonal allergic rhinitis (7.6% vs. 9.3%; OR = 0.81, p = 0.001), atopic dermatitis (1.1% vs. 2.0%; OR = 0.53, p < 0.001), contact dermatitis (1.1% vs. 2.8%; OR = 0.39; p < 0.001) and drug allergy (5.1% vs. 11.6%; OR = 0.41, p < 0.001). Conclusions. The opposite susceptibility to allergic diseases among children and adults may indicate that sex hormones play an important role in this phenomenon (Adv Clin Exp Med 2014, 23, 5, 757-762).