الفهرس 
INTRODUCTIONOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disorder of the airways characterized by an obstruction of airflow, which may be completely or partially reversed with or without specific therapy. Airway inflammation is the result of interactions between various cells, cellular elements, and cytokines. In susceptible individuals, airway inflammation may cause recurrent or persistent bronchospasm, which causes symptoms that include wheezing, breathlessness, chest tightness, and cough, particularly at night (early morning hours) or after exercise.
Airway inflammation is associated with airway hyperreactivity or bronchial hyperresponsiveness (BHR), which is defined as the inherent tendency of the airways to narrow in response to various stimuli (eg, environmental allergens and irritants).
Asthma is the most common chronic illness in children in the developed world and the leading reason for hospitalisations among children in most developed nations. Asthma prevalence is increasing worldwide in most populations, likely due to a combination of heritable factors and environmental changes.
Acute exacerbations of asthma in children are also a frequent presentation to the emergency department, where they present with a wide range of disease severity.
Several markers for atopy can be used for asthmatic patients as absolute eosinophilic count, total serum IgE level but they are not correlated with asthma severity.
Uteroglobin is a small, non-glycosylated secreted protein of the secretoglobin superfamily. It is produced by the non-ciliated, non-mucous secretory cells that predominate in lung bronchioles (Clara cells) and other non-ciliated epithelia that communicate with the external environment.
Mature human Uteroglobin is a 70 amino acid (aa) secreted protein that is found in blood, urine and other body fluids.
Uteroglobin participates in several immunoregulatory activities. It sequesters prostaglandins and leukotrienes, limiting their inflammatory effects, while also inhibiting the activity of phospholipase A2, an enzyme in their synthesis pathway.
Uteroglobin can inhibit dendritic cell migration by binding the chemotaxis-related formyl peptide receptor, FPR2. It can also inhibit T cell differentiation to the Th2 phenotype, and thus down regulates the production of Th2 cytokines.
The aim of our study was to investigate Uteroglobin level in asthmatic children classified according to severity, to show the possibility of using this parameter as an early marker for pediatric asthma.
In the present study, Uteroglobin was measured in 60 asthmatic patients classified according to asthma score. Also 20 healthy age and sex matched children were included as a control group.