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Cough in Asthma Is due to Eosinophilic Airway Inflammation: A Pro/Con Debate

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Abstract

Multiple prospective studies have demonstrated that asthma is among the most common etiologies of chronic cough, along with upper-airway cough syndrome (formerly known as postnasal drip syndrome) and gastroesophageal reflux disease. More recently, the entity of nonasthmatic eosinophilic bronchitis has been appreciated as a significant cause of chronic cough worldwide. Chronic cough associated with both of these conditions typically responds well to therapy with systemic or inhaled corticosteroids, thus leading to a general assumption that the suppression of eosinophilic airway inflammation explains the improvement in cough. However, some recent studies challenge a causal relationship between eosinophilic airway inflammation and cough in asthmatics. The 4th American Cough Conference, held in New York in June 2013, provided an ideal forum for discussion and debate of this issue between two internationally recognized experts in the field of asthma and chronic cough.

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Conflicts of interest

Dr. Niimi has received funding in the form of a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Ministry of Education, Science, and Culture (23591117) of the Japanese government. He has received consultancy fees and research funding from AstraZeneca, Astellas, GlaxoSmithKline, Kyorin, MSD, Boehringer-Ingelheim, and Novartis. Dr. Brightling has received funding in the form of a Wellcome Senior Clinical Fellowship and has received consultancy fees and research funding from AstraZeneca, MedImmune, GlaxoSmithKline, Chiesi, Roche, and Novartis. Dr. Dicpinigaitis has received consultancy fees from Pfizer, Novartis, and GlaxoSmithKline and serves on the speakers’ bureau of Boehringer-Ingelheim.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Respiratory Medicine, Department of Medical Oncology and Immunology, University Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Nagoya City University Hospital, Nagoya, Japan

    Akio Niimi

  2. Department of Infection, Inflammation and Immunity, Institute for Lung Health, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK

    Christopher E. Brightling

  3. Department of Medicine, Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Medical Center, 1825 Eastchester Road, Bronx, NY, 10461, USA

    Peter V. Dicpinigaitis

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  1. Akio Niimi
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  2. Christopher E. Brightling
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Correspondence to Peter V. Dicpinigaitis.

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Niimi, A., Brightling, C.E. & Dicpinigaitis, P.V. Cough in Asthma Is due to Eosinophilic Airway Inflammation: A Pro/Con Debate. Lung 192, 33–38 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00408-013-9543-8

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