Clusterin in atopic and non-atopic childhood asthma

Several biomarkers have been studied to diagnose or to detect the phenotype of asthma. Clusterin is a sensitive cellular biosensor of oxidative stress and has been studied as a biomarker for inflammatory diseases. We aimed to study serum clusterin level in atopic versus non-atopic childhood asthma and its relation to disease severity. This case-control study included 160 children; 120 stable asthmatic children and 40 apparently healthy children. Asthmatic children were further subdivided into atopic and non-atopic. All children were subjected to medical history taking, clinical examination, and laboratory investigations including complete blood count, serum IgE, serum clusterin level and spirometry before and after bronchodilator therapy. In comparison to controls, patients had significantly higher eosinophils count which was higher in atopic than non-atopic group, also serum IgE level was higher in the atopic asthmatics (118.1 +/- 16.2 U/ml) than in both the non-atopic asthmatics (81.2 +/- 6.1 U/ml) and the controls (76.3 +/- 11.6 U/ml). There was statistical significant difference in serum levels of Clusterin which were highest in the atopic group (182.5 +/- 33.5 ng/l), followed by the non-atopic patients (127.5 +/- 32.5 ng/l) and lowest in the controls (46.09 +/- 7.01 ng/l). Moreover, the higher the severity of asthma, the higher was the level of serum clusterin. In conclusion serum level of clusterin was higher in atopic than non-atopic asthmatic children and it increases significantly with increased severity of the disease.