TY - JOUR T1 - Association of wheezing phenotypes in the first 7 years of life with fractional exhaled nitric oxide and lung function in adolescence. The ALSPAC study JF - European Respiratory Journal JO - Eur Respir J VL - 38 IS - Suppl 55 SP - 3400 AU - Liesbeth Duijts AU - Raquel Granell AU - Jonathan A.C. Sterne AU - John A. Henderson Y1 - 2011/09/01 UR - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/38/Suppl_55/3400.abstract N2 - Background: Patterns of wheezing during early childhood are associated with lung function and bronchial hyperresponsiveness in mid childhood. Little is known about the associations of early wheezing phenotypes with fraction of exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO), a marker of allergic airway inflammation, and lung function in adolescence.Methods: This study was based on 6,841 children in a population-based prospective birth-cohort study. Latent class analysis identified 6 wheezing phenotypes (never/infrequent, transient early, prolonged early, intermediate, late, persistent) based on wheezing patterns from birth to 7 years. FeNO levels and airway function (forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1), forced expiratory volume in 1 s/forced expiratory volume ratio (FEV1/FVC), mid forced expiratory flow (FEF25-75)) were measured at age 15.Results: Intermediate onset wheezing (18 months) was the most strongly associated with increased FeNO levels (ratio geometric means 2.01, 95% confidence interval: (1.63, 2.48)), compared with the reference group never/infrequent wheezing. Wheezing phenotypes were not associated with FEV1, but showed associations with decreased levels of FEV1/FVC and FEF25-75 (most strongly for persistent wheezing: mean differences -0.50 (-0.62, -0.38) and -0.42 (-0.54, -0.29), respectively).Conclusions: Wheezing phenotypes with onset after the age of 18 months and persistent wheezing were the most strongly associated with FeNO levels and lung function, respectively, in adolescence. Our results suggest that specific patterns of asthma-related symptoms in early life are associated with markers of lung morbidity at older ages. ER -