Ex Vivo Stimulation of Whole Blood as a Means to Determine Glucocorticoid Sensitivity to Mild-to-Moderate and Refractory Asthmatics

Gluococorticoids are commonly prescribed to treat a number of diseases including the majority of inflammatory diseases. Despite considerable inter-personal variability in responses to glucocorticoids between asthmatics, an insensitivity rate of about 30% and the risk of adverse side effects of glucocorticoid therapy, no assay is currently performed to determine sensitivity in severe and non-severe asthmatics prior to treatment. The purpose of this study is to perform a whole blood ex vivo stimulation assay to interrogate known glucocorticoid receptor (GR) up- and down-regulated genes to indicate glucocorticoid sensitivity and compare the results between severe and non-severe asthmatics.