Impaired fibrinolysis and lower levels of plasma α2-macroglobulin are associated with an increased risk of severe asthma exacerbations

Figures

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  Figure 1. Laboratory variables that differentiated asthmatics with at least one severe exacerbation and those, who did not experience severe asthma exacerbation during the whole 3-year period of follow-up. Data is presented as median, interquartile range, and minimum and maximum value.

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  Figure 2. Impact of selected clinical and laboratory variables on the risk of development of at least one severe asthma exacerbation, expressed as relative risk ratios (RRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). As expected, higher RR of asthma exacerbation was demonstrated in subjects who were older and longer suffered from asthma, had hypertension and gastroesophageal reflux disease, as well as in those with more severe type of disease, particularly on oral corticosteroids at baseline, and with lower values of forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1). Moreover, asthma subjects with Clot Lysis Time ≥144.9 min and α2-macroglobulin <14.63 nmol/l had higher RRs of asthma exacerbation than remaining patients (numerical values were calculated based on ROC curves). Abbreviations: RR - relative risk ratio, 95%CI − 95% confidence interval, GINA - Global Initiative for Asthma, FEV1 - forced expiratory volume in 1 second, ETP - Endogenous Thrombin Potential: parameter describing thrombin generation capacity.

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  Figure 3. Kaplan-Meier plots in estimation of asthma exacerbation rate in the time. Faster exacerbations were demonstrated in subjects 50 years old or more, with severe asthma, particularly on oral corticosteroids at baseline, as well as with hypertension and gastroesophageal reflux disease as co-morbidities, and with α2-macroglobulin <14.63 nmol/l.