El uso de los biomarcadores de inflamación en la vía aérea en el manejo del asma

Biological markers are being used in the diagnosis and treatment of disease as prevalent as cardiovascular or cancer. Biomarkers are a useful in clinical practice as a non invasive methods for the accurate diagnosis of the disease, monitor disease and create personalized treatment regimes. Asthma is a heterogeneous disease with different phenotypes. Pulmonary function test are most often used to confirm the diagnosis, but not reflect the pathological processes responsible for different phenotypes that present the disease. Inhaled corticosteroids and beta 2 agonists have been mainstay of asthma therapy for over 30 years, but the heterogeneity of the disease means not all asthmatics respond to the same treatment. Biomarkers are useful tools to identify these specific phenotypes. This review focuses on the utility of biomarkers of inflammation of the airway in the management of asthma patients obtained by noninvasive tecniques including sputum, exhaled breath or serum.