A small number of women with asthma have an increase in asthma symptoms during the premenstrual or menstrual period. This study is being done to investigate the possible causes of this premenstrual increase in asthma symptoms and to help asthma care providers identify those patients who may suffer from this condition.

Population

primary care clinic, community sample

Brief Title

Inflammatory Mediators and microRNA Analysis in Premenstrual Asthma

Official Title

Inflammatory Mediators and microRNA Analysis in Premenstrual Asthma

Brief Summary

A small number of women with asthma have an increase in asthma symptoms during the<br /> premenstrual or menstrual period. This study is being done to investigate the possible causes<br /> of this premenstrual increase in asthma symptoms and to help asthma care providers identify<br /> those patients who may suffer from this condition.

Detailed Description

It is well established that women suffer more asthma symptoms and worse health-related
quality of life than men with the same level of asthma severity. The etiology for these
sex-related differences in unknown, but a subset of women has premenstrual asthma (PMA) with
worsening of their asthma symptoms either prior to or during menstruation. Previous small
trials have suggested that an increase in the host inflammatory response may correlate with
PMA symptoms. We have evidence that small inhibitory ribonucleic acids, microRNAs,
circulating in the peripheral blood of human patients may be expressed in different patterns
in certain disease states when compared to healthy individuals.

We plan to compare the patterns of microRNA expression in a well characterized group of women
with PMA to those without PMA to determine if alterations in these microRNA patterns play a
role in increased asthma symptoms in the premenstrual period. In addition, we plan to compare
the levels of inflammatory markers in these populations to better define the specific subset
of women that may be at risk for premenstrual asthma. By better characterizing these women,
we hope to identify clinically relevant predictors that may guide therapy for women who
suffer from PMA.

Procedures to be used in this study include questionnaire administration, pulmonary function
assessment, exhaled nitric oxide evaluation, urine sampling for pregnancy, and blood draws
for microRNA and serum leukotriene evaluation. These techniques are utilized widely in
clinical asthma research, and are associated with minimal risk.

Outcome Measures

Outcome measures are the tests that investigators perform to prove whether or not a treatment being tested in a clinical trial is having any effect.