Participant eligibility includes age, gender, type and stage of disease, and previous treatments or health concerns. Guidelines differ from study to study, and identify who can or cannot participate. There is no guarantee that every individual who qualifies and wants to participate in a trial will be enrolled. Contact the study team to discuss study eligibility and potential participation.
The inclusion criteria are as follows:
1) Asthma and CRS:
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Physician-diagnosed asthma
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CRS symptoms with lasting longer than 12 weeks
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A sinus CT scan within the past 24 months with a Lund-Mackay score > 5 (88).
2) Seasonal allergic rhinitis without asthma and CRS:
The clinical diagnosis of allergic rhinitis is established by history, where patients describe the typical seasonal signs of nose itching, sneezing and clear rhinorrhea, and is confirmed with a positive skin test and/or elevated specific serum IgE level for short ragweed antigen.
Patients with allergic rhinitis will have no history or symptoms of asthma or of CRS, normal lung function, and negative methacholine responsiveness (PC 20 Methacholine >16 mg/ml).
3) Normal:
The normal controls are healthy individuals with no history of allergy or CRS, normal spirometry, negative methacholine responsiveness (PC 20 Methacholine >16 mg/ml) and negative skin prick test results or negative IgE serum tests to 10 common aeroallergens.
Exclusion criteria for subjects in any group are as follows:
1) received systemic glucocorticoids or high-dose (>1,000 µg budesonide or equivalent/day) inhaled or intranasal glucocorticoids during the past 6 weeks,
2) previous or current smokers (exceeding a 10 pack year history), or
3) a lower or upper airway infection (e.g. “cold”) in the last 4 weeks. We will also exclude volunteers who have been diagnosed with an immunodeficiency disease or cystic fibrosis.