Bronchial asthma: clinical phenotypes and endotypes and their relation with glucocorticoids circadian rhythm and parasympathetic activity

Introduction Asthma is a heterogeneous disease and presents in different clinical patterns ‘phenotypes’ as a result of diverse pathobiological background ‘endotypes’. Objectives The aim of this study was to study serum interleukin-13 (IL-13) levels and the frequency of (IL-13) +1923C/T gene polymorphism in Egyptian children with asthma and to study glucocorticoids circadian rhythm in nocturnal asthma. Patients and methods The frequency of (IL-13) +1923C/T gene polymorphism genotypes was determined in 114 asthmatic Egyptian children and compared with a matched group of 152 healthy controls using PCR. Serum IL-13 and cortisol a.m. and p.m. concentrations in serum were assessed using enzyme linked immunosorbent assay. Results Serum IL-13 was found to be significantly higher in asthmatic patients when compared with the control group (P Conclusion Serum IL-13 is significantly higher in asthmatic patients when compared with controls. (IL-13) +1923C/T gene polymorphism is not a risk factor for development of asthma in Egyptian children. Nocturnal symptoms in some asthmatic patients can be partly attributed to lower serum cortisol level at night.