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Towards a Practical Clinical Use of Fractioned Exhaled Nitric Oxide Levels in Chronic Cough

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Towards a Practical Clinical Use of Fractioned Exhaled Nitric Oxide Levels in Chronic Cough Commentary Page 1 of 4 Towards a practical clinical use of fractioned exhaled nitric oxide levels in chronic cough Patrizia Pignatti1, Antonio Spanevello2,3 1Allergy and Immunology Unit, Salvatore Maugeri Foundation, IRCCS, Pavia, Italy; 2Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Insubria, Varese, Italy; 3Pneumology Unit, Rehabilitation Institute of Tradate, Salvatore Maugeri Foundation, IRCCS, Pavia, Italy Correspondence to: Patrizia Pignatti. Allergy and Immunology Unit, Fondazione Salvatore Maugeri, IRCCS, Via S. Maugeri, 27100 Pavia, Italy. Email: [email protected]. Submitted Jun 26, 2016. Accepted for publication Jun 28, 2016. doi: 10.21037/atm.2016.08.13 View this article at: http://dx.doi.org/10.21037/atm.2016.08.13 Fractioned exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) is the amount of strict clinical evidence. In healthy subjects upper limits of nitric oxide (NO) present in the airways detectable of FeNO ranges from 24.0 to 54.0 ppb, depending on with chemiluminescent or electrochemical methods in age and height (6). Up to now, its main application is in the exhaled air. The exhaled NO measured is the sum of the assessment of airway inflammation, since high FeNO the constitutive gas produced by the neuronal and the levels are associated with eosinophilic inflammation in the endothelial isoforms of the NO synthases and the amount airways (7). Smoking is an important interfering factor produced after activation of the inducible isoform of this in the evaluation of FeNO, since smoking subjects have enzyme (1). The inducible isoform produces a high quantity lower FeNO levels, limiting the clinical value of FeNO of NO, nM range, compared to the constitutive isoforms, determination to non-smokers (8). which produce pM amount of the gas. The inducible Many studies, including International guidelines (5,9), isoform is mainly present in macrophages and epithelial proposed the use of FeNO to support the diagnosis of cells in the airways and it accounts for most of the FeNO asthma although, other more recent publications, concluded detected. One interesting characteristic of the inducible that FeNO sensitivity and specificity is insufficient to production of FeNO is that it is quite well down-modulated accurately diagnose asthma (10,11). by corticosteroids compared to the NO produced by the FeNO results in obese subjects are conflicting: in obese constitutive isoforms (1). adult subjects wheezing was significantly associated with From the early Nineties, when the first studies measuring reduced FeNO, whereas a positive association between FeNO in the airways of asthmatic patients were published wheezing and FeNO among the nonobese subjects was (2,3), the amount of publications in this field increased found, suggesting possible differences in FeNO levels over the years, reaching the top in 2013. Feasibility and according to asthma phenotypes based on body weight (12). noninvasiveness of FeNO determination for the evaluation In children, a positive correlation between BMI and FeNO of airway inflammation produced an increase in the number levels was reported only in nonasthmatic subjects, which of publications with different methodologies raising the suggests a link between obesity and increased airway need of standardization. An ATS and ERS recommendation inflammation independently from asthma development (13). for standardized procedures for FeNO measurements was Among asthmatic patients FeNO evaluation seems published in 2005 (4) and an ATS official clinical practice more useful to define the Th2 phenotype, characterized by guideline on interpretation of FeNO levels and clinical eosinophilic inflammation, high periostin levels and higher application in 2011 (5). probability to respond to inhaled corticosteroid therapy (10). The noninvasiveness of FeNO evaluation and the Furthermore, FeNO was measured in many other possibility to evaluate it with portable devices spread the respiratory conditions, particularly either when the diffusion of this determination from research to routine inflammatory pattern may be useful to the diagnosis or practice, opening its use sometimes even in the absence to the follow up or when the response to corticosteroid © Annals of Translational Medicine. All rights reserved. atm.amegroups.com Ann Transl Med 2016;4(18):357 Page 2 of 4 Pignatti and Spanevello. FeNO in chronic cough therapy should be assessed (14). that patients with moderate to severe asthma in whom Chronic cough is an exclusion diagnosis made in patients the therapy was adapted according to sputum eosinophils with cough which persists at least for 8 weeks (15). The count had less exacerbations than subjects managed with different causes responsible for this symptom have been standard clinical guidelines (20). Unfortunately, sputum considered in order to subgroup chronic cough in cough induction and differential cell count are available only in variant asthma, upper airway cough syndrome, eosinophilic a limited number of specialized centers and results are not bronchitis, gastroesophageal reflux-related cough and atopic immediately provided, suggesting FeNO evaluation as an cough (15). FeNO levels have been used to define asthma easier and more rapid methodology to assess eosinophilic among subjects with chronic cough (16) but again the utility inflammation. of this non-invasive methodology relies more in defining a In the last few years, many studies in asthmatic subjects, subgroup of subjects among those with chronic cough than particularly clinical trials (21), considered the percentage on the diagnosis of chronic cough itself. or the number of blood eosinophils as surrogate marker Recently, Yi et al. reported the results of a study of airway eosinophils. In the study by Yi et al. (17), such a conducted on the utility of FeNO in diagnosing subjects biomarker was not considered, even if it would have been with corticosteroid-responsive cough (CRC) (17). The interesting to evaluate its sensitivity and specificity in authors evaluated 244 patients with chronic cough and 59 predicting CRC compared to FeNO levels. healthy subjects, more than half of the patients enrolled had The study by Yi et al., presented different cut-off levels CRC; in these subjects, FeNO is higher than in patients of FeNO in patients with chronic cough, resulting in with corticosteroid non-responsive cough and significantly different sensitivity and specificity. FeNO higher than correlated with sputum eosinophils. Among chronic cough 22.5 ppb resulted in 74.6% sensitivity and 77.2% specificity patients, FeNO level of 31.5 ppb has high specificity to predict sputum eosinophils >2.5%, while with a cut-off (91.4%) but low sensitivity (54.0%) in predicting those value of 33.5 ppb the specificity was adjusted to 95%. In with CRC, with a positive predictive value of 89.3% and a the meantime, a cut-off value of 31.5 ppb has the higher negative predictive value of 60%. The combination of low specificity in discriminating CRC (17). Considering such FeNO levels, low sputum eosinophils (<2.5%) and absence small differences in cut-offs, the inter-individual variability of atopy has a sensitivity of 93.5% in predicting subjects of FeNO evaluation, as measured in each specific setting, with corticosteroid-resistance. These results, as those should always be checked. published in the asthma field (18), highlighted that the Patients enrolled in Yi’s study were non-smokers or ex- usefulness of airway inflammation evaluation through non- smokers with cessation of smoking for at least 6 months invasive markers, consists not in supporting the diagnosis before the study. Considering the decreasing effect of but in discriminating a particular subset of subjects for the smoking habit on FeNO levels (11) the application in whom a specific therapy is more useful. These results are real life of these cut-offs values should be limited to non- particularly interesting in trying to use biological markers smoking subjects. in an alternative way, which could favor its entrance in Atopy is another variable considered by Yi et al. in clinical practice. Most of the patients with chronic cough their study in order to define a cut-off level for CRC. The are prescribed inhaled corticosteroids without the evidence authors found that low FeNO levels (<22.5 ppb), normal that this approach may be the right one for the patient. sputum eosinophils (<2.5%) and absence of atopy suggested FeNO evaluation, with the proper cut-off levels, could be a lower probability of CRC (19). Many studies reported the useful to direct therapy towards personalized treatment. In association between FeNO levels and atopy with increasing this view, step-down therapy in subjects with CRC could threshold for FeNO levels in atopic asthmatic subjects both be monitored with FeNO levels and more successfully in adults (22) and in children (23). done, considered that step-down therapy is not always Yi et al., did not report in their study whether a easily practiced and discontinuation of ICS/LABA causes possible occupational cause for chronic cough had been worsening of the disease in patients with cough variant considered (17). Despite published recommendations, asthma (19). both in cough guidelines/protocols and in clinical practice, Monitoring the step down therapy through the it is quite frequent that an occupational trigger is not evaluation of airway inflammation is a strategy already contemplated among the causes of chronic cough (24,25). proposed for asthmatic patients. Green et al. reported The lack of recognition of an occupational cause of © Annals of Translational Medicine. All rights reserved. atm.amegroups.com Ann Transl Med 2016;4(18):357 Annals of Translational Medicine, Vol 4, No 18 September 2016 Page 3 of 4 chronic cough could have important consequences since Respir Crit Care Med 2005;171:912-30. it could delay preventive measures at work and could lead 5. Dweik RA, Boggs PB, Erzurum SC, et al. An official ATS to a wrong therapy prescription. FeNO evaluations in clinical practice guideline: interpretation of exhaled nitric subjects with work related cough could be useful for both oxide levels (FENO) for clinical applications.
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