Asthma is the most common long-term condition in children. According to a recent study, it affects many black and Puerto Rican children the most.

New treatments need to be developed to better help these children. Asthma is usually classified into types called “endotypes” based on the level of inflammation in the body.

The two main types are T2-high (high T2 swelling) and T2-low (low T2 swelling). Recently, researchers have divided T2-low asthma into two groups: T17-high (high T17 inflammation, low T2 inflammation) and low-low (low levels of both T2 and T17 inflammation).

Since asthma can vary greatly from person to person, accurate diagnosis of these endotypes is important to choose the right treatment. The traditional way to diagnose endotype involves analyzing lung tissue, which requires a procedure called bronchoscopy under general anesthesia.

This method is not suitable for children, especially those with mild asthma, as it is invasive and risky. Instead, doctors often rely on less accurate methods, such as blood tests, lung function tests, and allergy testing.

Now, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh have developed a simple nasal swab test to identify types of asthma in children. This non-invasive test could help doctors provide more precise treatments and open the door to new treatments for less-studied asthma types.

The study, published in JAMA, focused on Puerto Rican and African American children, who have higher rates of asthma and are more likely to die from asthma than white children.

The research team analyzed nasal swabs from 459 children in three studies. They looked at eight genes associated with T2 and T17 inflammation. The results showed that 23% to 29% of the children had T2-high asthma, 35% to 47% had T17-high asthma, and 30% to 38% had low-low asthma.

While medications targeting T2-high asthma already exist, there are no treatments yet for T17-high and low-low asthma. This new nasal swab test could help scientists focus on developing treatments for this type of asthma and make faster progress in asthma research.

Dr. Juan Celdon, a pediatrician and senior author of the study, highlighted the significance of this breakthrough: “A big question in asthma is why some children’s asthma gets worse during puberty, while others improve or remain the same.” Before puberty, it is more common in boys, but does this change over time or with treatment? This new test will help us find the answer Will do.