title: Menopausal asthma: a new biological phenotype?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Female hormones play an important role in women's lung health, especially in asthma pathophysiology. Although a growing interest has recently been aroused in asthma related to short-term reproductive states, menopausal asthma has been little studied in the past. The aim of the present study was to explore airway inflammation in menopausal asthmatic women in a noninvasive manner.
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty consecutive women with menopausal asthma, 35 consecutive women with premenopausal asthma and 30 age-matched healthy controls were enrolled in the study. Urinary LTE-4, induced sputum inflammatory cells, and exhaled LTE-4, IL-6, pH, and NO levels were measured in all the subjects enrolled.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Women with menopausal asthma showed decreased estradiol concentrations, high sputum neutrophils, and exhaled IL-6. Women with premenopausal asthma presented instead an essentially eosinophilic inflammatory pattern. Higher urine and breath condensate LTE-4 concentrations were found in premenopausal and menopausal asthma compared to controls.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results substantiate the existence of a new biological phenotype of menopausal asthma that is mainly characterized by neutrophilic airways inflammation and shares several characteristics of the severe asthma phenotype.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Respiratory Disease, Department of Medical and Occupational Sciences, University of Foggia, Foggia, Italy.
authors.forename: M P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Foschino Barbaro
authors.forename: V R
authors.initials: VR
authors.lastname: Costa
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Resta
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Prato
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Spanevello
authors.forename: G P
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Palladino
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Martinelli
authors.forename: Giovanna Elisiana
authors.initials: GE
authors.lastname: Carpagnano
mesh_terms: D001249:Asthma / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004804:Eosinophils; D045853:Exhalation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D007249:Inflammation / Q000473:pathology; D015847:Interleukin-4 / Q000032:analysis; D017999:Leukotriene E4 / Q000032:analysis / Q000652:urine; D008593:Menopause; D008875:Middle Aged; D009504:Neutrophils / Q000473:pathology; D009569:Nitric Oxide / Q000032:analysis; D010641:Phenotype; D017697:Premenopause; D013183:Sputum
chemical_list: D015847:Interleukin-4; D009569:Nitric Oxide; D017999:Leukotriene E4