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Abstract
Background Eosinophil-derived neurotoxin (EDN) and eosinophil cationic protein (ECP) are proteins released by activated eosinophils whose role in adult asthma remains unclear.
Objective To study associations between ECP, EDN and various asthma characteristics in adults from the Epidemiological Study on the Genetics and Environment of Asthma (EGEA).
Methods Plasma ECP and EDN levels were measured by ELISA. Cross-sectional analyses were performed in 941 adults (43±16 years old, 39% with asthma) at EGEA2 (2003–2007). Longitudinal analyses investigated the associations between EDN level at EGEA2 and changes in asthma characteristics between EGEA2 and EGEA3 (2011–2013, n=817). We used generalised estimated equations adjusted for age, sex, smoking status and body mass index to take into account familial dependence.
Results At EGEA2, both high ECP and EDN levels were associated with current asthma (adjusted OR (aOR) (95% CI): 1.69 (1.35–2.12) and 2.12 (1.76–2.57)). Among asthmatics, high EDN level was associated with asthma attacks (aOR: 1.50 (1.13–1.99)), wheezing and breathlessness (aOR: 1.38 (1.05–1.80)), use of asthma treatments (aOR: 1.91 (1.37–2.68)) and bronchial hyper-responsiveness (aOR: 2.03 (1.38–2.97)), even after further adjustment on ECP. High ECP level was associated with high neutrophil count and tended to be associated with chronic bronchitis. High EDN level at EGEA2 was associated with persistent asthma (aOR: 1.62 (1.04–2.52)), nocturnal symptoms (aOR from 2.19 to 3.57), worsening wheezing and breathlessness (aOR: 1.97 (1.36–2.85)) and nocturnal shortness of breath (aOR: 1.44 (1.04–1.98)) between EGEA2 and EGEA3.
Conclusions EDN and ECP were associated with different asthma expression in adults. EDN could be a potential biomarker to monitor asthma evolution in adults.
- asthma
- eosinophil biology
Data availability statement
No data are available. Due to third-party restrictions, EGEA data are not publicly available. Please see the following URL for more information: https://egeanet.vjf.inserm.fr/index.php/en/contacts-en. Interested researchers should contact egea.cohorte@inserm.fr with further questions regarding data access.
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Data availability statement
No data are available. Due to third-party restrictions, EGEA data are not publicly available. Please see the following URL for more information: https://egeanet.vjf.inserm.fr/index.php/en/contacts-en. Interested researchers should contact egea.cohorte@inserm.fr with further questions regarding data access.
Footnotes
Contributors The authors’ contributions to the study were as follows: VG and RN were involved in the conception, hypotheses delineation and design of the analysis strategy of the study. FZ, PdN, AT and RM were involved in ECP and EDN measurement and interpretation. RM, RN and VS were involved in the acquisition of EGEA data and identification of asthma phenotypes. VG, JNA and RN analysed the data and performed statistical analyses. VG and RN wrote the paper. FZ, JA, VS, PdN, AT, RM and ZA reviewed the paper and revised it critically. All authors approved the final version of the manuscript.
Funding This work was funded by the French National Research Program for Environmental and Occupational Health of ANSES (EST/2017/1/158), the Région Hauts de France, National Hospital program of clinical research (PHRC-National 2012, EvAdA), ANR-CES-2009, and AGIR grants for chronical diseases.
Competing interests AT reports grant from Santelys, personal fees from ALK-Abello and non-financial support from AstraZeneca outside the submitted work.
Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.
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