Background:

Exhaled nitric oxide and inflammatory biomarkers in exhaled breath condensate may be useful to diagnose and monitor childhood asthma. Their ability to indicate an asthma diagnosis, and to assess asthma severity and control, is largely unknown.

Objective:

To study 1) the ability of exhaled nitric oxide and inflammatory markers in exhaled breath condensate (nitrite, nitrate, hydrogen peroxide, 8-isoprostane, interferon-γ, tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin-2,-4,-5,-10, acidity) to discriminate between childhood asthma and controls. 2) the ability of these biomarkers to indicate asthma severity and control.

Methods:

114 Children were included: 64 asthmatics (10.7±3.0 years, 67.2% atopic) and 50 controls (10.0±0.4 years). Condensate was collected using a glass condenser

Inclusion Criteria:

• Asthmatic and control children, aged 5 to 16 years
• Children with doctor-diagnosed asthma, known at the department of Paediatric Pulmonology, University Hospital Maastricht

Exclusion Criteria:

• Presence of a disease that might interfere with the results of this study (e.g. recent upper airway infection, heart disease, anatomic abnormalities of the airways and other chronic inflammatory diseases such as Crohns disease and rheumatoid arthritis)
• Mental retardation
• Inability to perform the EBC procedure properly
• Active smoking
• The use of one of the following medication: Papaverin, Sodium nitroprusside, ACE inhibitors, Oxymetazoline, L-arginine, or NOS inhibitors