SEROLOGICAL TESTING IN ASTHMA PATIENTS VISITING MAHAVIR HOSPITAL AND RESEARCH CENTRE

Background: The hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis in asthmatic patients is influenced by many factors. Stress, cytokines and exogenous corticosteroids play an important role in regulating the HPA axis and thus affecting the adreno corticotrophic hormone (ACTH) and cortisol levels among these patients. It is well accepted that the HPA axis represents a major immune-regulatory system that plays an important role in balancing the immune response especially under stressful condition. We evaluated the serum cortisol and serum ACTH levels in Asthma patients of Hyderabad. Methods: Serum cortisol levels were measured by Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) using a commercially available kit (Diagnostic Systems Laboratories, Inc., Webster, Texas, USA). Serum ACTH levels were measured by ELISA using commercially available kit (Biomerica Inc., Newport Beach, CA, USA). Results were evaluated for determining the significance between patients and controls. Most of these patients were under various treatments. Results: The correlation between serum cortisol levels in asthmatics and controls was not found to be significant (p= 0.43). The correlation between the ACTH levels in asthmatics and controls was also not found to be significant (p= 0.30). Conclusions: Adrenal functions were normal in asthmatics as in control population. This could be due to the intervention of various drugs administered to these patients.