Aim: 

A study looked into the associations between occupational exposure to irritants and respiratory endotypes detected previously among never asthmatics (NA) and current asthmatics (CA) incorporating the clinical features and biomarkers of oxidative stress and inflammation.

Methods: 

• Cross-sectional data from 999 adults from the case-control and familial Epidemiological study on the Genetics and Environments of Asthma (EGEA) was utilized for this study.
• Mean age of the participants was 45 years with 46% being men.
• Five respiratory endotypes were described as-

o    NA1 - asymptomatic, 

o    NA2 - with respiratory symptoms, 

o    CA1 - with active treated adult-onset asthma, poor lung function, raised blood neutrophil counts and increased fluorescent oxidation products level, 

o    CA2 - with mild middle-age asthma, rhinitis and low immunoglobulin E level

o    CA3 - with inactive/mild untreated allergic childhood-onset asthma. 

• Occupational exposure to irritants was evaluated using the updated occupational asthma-specific job-exposure matrix (levels of exposure: no/medium/high).
• Associations between irritants and each respiratory endotype were assessed.

Results:

Andrianjafimasy MV, Febrissy M, Zerimech F, Dananché B, Kromhout H, Matran R, Nadif M, Oberson-Geneste D, Quinot C, Schlünssen V, Siroux V, Zock JP, Le Moual N, Nadif R, Dumas O. Association between occupational exposure to irritant agents and a distinct asthma endotype in adults. Occup Environ Med. 2021:oemed-2020-107065.