Predictive role of periostin for asthma
Several attempts were made to investigate the role of periostin to predict the development of asthma in the future. Anderson at al.(12) have prospectively followed up the children from COAST (Childhood Origins of ASThma Study) cohort and longitudinally investigated the role of several biomarkers of type 2 inflammation such as aeroallergen sensitization, blood eosinophils and serum periostin levels in the development of asthma during the childhood period. They have found that, along with other variables, high serum periostin levels at the age of 2 years is a risk factor for asthma by school-age. However, they have also addressed a concern regarding the possible confounder effect of the linear growth on serum periostin levels during the early-childhood phase. Castro-Rodriguez et al.(13) have performed a case-control study in preschoolers with recurrent wheezing episodes and compared periostin levels according to their asthma predictive index result. No significant difference was found in periostin levels between children with positive and negative asthma predictive index. Recently, Guvenir et al.(14) investigated the role of periostin in young children with wheezing episodes for the prediction of asthma development. However, their results did not reveal periostin as a predictive factor for future asthma in young children, either.