Periostin, type 2 biomarker, is not associated with asthma control grade in asthmatic allergic children

Background: Allergic asthma is characterized by type 2 inflammation. Periostin has been proposed as type 2 biomarker. Objective: To test the hypothesis that serum periostin could be associated with the asthma control grade in a group of children with allergic asthma and recruited in clinical practice. Patients and methods: 121 consecutive children (71 males, 50 females, mean age 11.6 +/- 3.2 years) with allergic asthma were visited for the first time at a third-level paediatric clinic. Serum periostin was evaluated with gender, BMI and z score BMI, lung function, FeNO, ACT questionnaire, VAS of breathing perception, peripheral eosinophils, total serum IgE, oral corticosteroid (CS) use in the past year, control asthma grade and asthma severity (according to GINA document). Results: Serum periostin was not associated with the asthma control grade and did not correlate with blood eosinophils and FeNO. In addition, peripheral eosinophils, serum IgE, and FeNO were not associated with the asthma control grade. On the contrary, gender, FEV1, FEV1/FVC ratio, FEF25-75, ACT, VAS of breathing perception, oral corticosteroid use, and asthma severity grade were associated with the asthma control grade. Conclusions: Serum periostin seems to be scarcely useful to assess the asthma control in children with allergic asthma in clinical practice. There is the need to identify reliable inflammation biomarkers able to correlate with the asthma control grade.