IL-13 Blockade and Airway Autoimmunity in Asthma

It has been observed that certain section of patients having severe to moderate Asthma, do not benefit from oral corticosteroids and IL-5 blocking biologics. There is increasing evidence that Airway auto immunity may be responsible for this poor response to treatment. It has been seen in earlier study done at Nair lab that these patients might benefit from Dupilumab, a biologic blocking IL-13/ IL-4. IL-13/IL-4 are the cytokines responsible for increased inflammation in these Asthmatics. The hypothesis is that blocking IL-13/IL-4 will also reduce the airway auto immunity which can be measured by comparing the auto immune markers in airway at baseline (before starting Dupilumab) and 16 weeks (after 4 months of Dupilumab treatment.