A potential new treatment approach has been identified for treating severe asthma, as per a small study. The approach is focused up on blocking of a powerful immune system, which is present in large amounts in patients with the severe form of asthma.

It is believed that one out of every ten asthmatics suffers from severe asthma that frequently requires progressively higher doses of steroids for controlling symptoms.

From News-Medical.Net:

Included in the study were 26 healthy people, 67 mild asthmatics, and 51 severe asthmatics. Bronchial fluid and lung tissue samples were taken from the participants to discover their levels of TNF alpha.

Levels were significantly higher in those with severe disease and concentrated in one particular type of immune cell (mast cells) which are recognised components of the inflammatory reaction in asthma.

TNF alpha levels were low and similar in those with no asthma or who only had mild symptoms.

This suggests that the high levels of TNF alpha in severe disease are characteristic of more chronic disease that is resistant to steroid treatment, rather than a feature of the disease itself, say the authors.

The authors caution that that more research is required in this field before the approach can be recommended at any stage but also said that this approach is a potentially new avenue of treatment for severe asthma.

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