Introduction
Asthma is a common chronic inflammatory disease of the airway in children. The most typical symptom of asthma is recurrent wheezing. However, wheezing is common in preschool children which is commonly related to acute respiratory tract infection. The Modified Asthma Predictive Index (mAPI) is a practical method commonly used in the clinic; however, its sensitivity and specificity are limited. Therefore, it is of great clinical value to explore biological indicators based on the immunology of bronchial asthma to guide the diagnosis and treatment of asthma more effectively.
Pathogenic memory type Th2 cells play an important role in allergic airway inflammation. CD4+ memory T cells can aggravate allergic airway inflammation by inducing eosinophilic aggregation, mucus hypersecretion(1) and airway hyperresponsiveness (2). Conversely, inhibition of memory Th2 cells can alleviate allergic airway inflammation and improve the symptoms of asthma(3). These studies suggest that memory Th2 cells reflect previous allergic inflammation and can distinguish wheezing caused by non-allergic inflammation versus an immunological mechanism.
In this study, a cohort of wheezing children was established. The patient and family histories of allergic diseases were recorded in detail. In addition, the proportion of circulating CD4+CCR6+CRTh2+memory Th2 cells were measured, and the wheezing children were followed up for 2 years to confirm whether they were diagnosed with asthma. Statistical methods were used to determine the correlation between the level of circulating CD4+CCR6+CRTh2+memory Th2 cells and a diagnosis of asthma, thereby providing a theoretical basis for the early diagnosis of asthma in children.