Current smoking reduces small airway eosinophil counts in COPD
Augusta Beech, Sophie Booth, Andrew Higham, Dave Singh
Abstract
Inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) prevent chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exacerbations [1]. Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) have shown that higher blood eosinophil counts (BEC) are associated with better clinical responses to ICS treatment in COPD patients with a history of exacerbations [1]. The Global initiative for chronic obstructive lung disease (GOLD) report recommends using BEC to identify individuals most likely to benefit from ICS treatment [1]. Higher BEC are associated with increased type-2 (T2) pulmonary inflammation [2–4], potentially explaining the differential response to ICS. Footnotes This manuscript has recently been accepted for publication in the ERJ Open Research . It is published here in its accepted form prior to copyediting and typesetting by our production team. After these production processes are complete and the authors have approved the resulting proofs, the article will move to the latest issue of the ERJOR online. Please open or download the PDF to view this article. Conflict of interest: DS has received personal fees from Aerogen, AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Chiesi, Cipla, CSL Behring, Epidendo, Genentech, GlaxoSmithKline, Glenmark, Gossamerbio, Kinaset, Menarini, Novartis, Orion, Pulmatrix, Sanofi, Synairgen, Teva, Theravance and Verona. Conflict of interest: AH has received personal fees from Chiesi. Conflict of interest: AB and SB have no conflicts of interest to declare.