'Severe asthma associated with autoimmune mechanisms'

Researchers at Ajou University Hospital have confirmed that the level of the antinuclear antibody (ANA), an autoantibody most frequently found in autoimmune disease patients, significantly increased in the sputum of patients with severe asthma.

Autoimmune disease is a phenomenon in which the human body overproduces autoantibodies that attack cells after mistaking them as external enemies. Activation of ANA means that the autoimmune mechanism has a relationship with the occurrence of severe asthma, the hospital said in a news release on Tuesday.

In confirming the relationship between ANA and severe asthma, the team divided patients into two groups – those with severe asthma (17 patients) and those with non-severe asthma (29 patients).

Afterward, the research team analyzed and compared asthma patients' lung function and inflammatory cells in blood and sputum with factors such as myeloperoxidase, eosinophil-derived enutrotoxin, matrix metalloproteinase, tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-1, and ANA. As a result, it confirmed that patients with severe asthma had significantly higher ANA than patients with non-severe asthma.

Researchers also found they could distinguish between severe and non-severe asthma patients with high sensitivity and specificity by using an ANA value of 111.8U/ml as a baseline. Those who have severe asthma have an ANA value of over 111.8U/ml.

"In patients with severe asthma, the team confirmed that the activation of ANA is related to autoimmune mechanisms," said Professor Park Hae-shim, who led the research team. "We expect to contribute to the diagnosis and treatment of severe asthma using this autoimmune mechanism through more research."

The results of this study were published in the recent issue of Allergy.