Phenotyping of individuals with obstructive lung disease based on different investigational approaches
| Reference | Disease | Variable | Diagnostic and/or prognostic model | |
| Medical history and physical examination | [9] | Asthma | Age and onset of disease | Within-subject response to montelukast is superior to fluticasone in childhood asthma in younger children and children with a shorter disease duration |
| Lifestyle | [10] | Atopic eczema | Cat exposure and genetics | Filaggrin loss-of-function main mutations (501x and 2282del4) and cat ownership at birth interact in their effects on the development of early-life eczema |
| Basic laboratory tests | [11–14] | Severe asthma | Eosinophil counts | Eosinophil counts in peripheral blood and/or bronchial lavage are predictors for treatment response to anti-IL-5 |
| Imaging | NA | NA | NA | No data available |
| Functional diagnostics | [9] | Asthma | Lung function and exhaled NO | Children with asthma respond in a different way to ICS and LTRA using FEV1 as a clinical end-point. High NO levels and decreased lung function are predictors of a better treatment response to ICS |
| Immunology/histology | [15] | Asthma | Cytokine levels | Patients with asthma and high pretreatment levels of serum periostin (surrogate marker of Th2 inflammation) had greater improvement in lung function with the monoclonal anti-IL-13 antibody lebrikizumab than did patients with low periostin levels |
| Omics | [16] | Asthma | ADRB2 | Substitution at position 16 (rs1042713) in ADRB2 is associated with enhanced downregulation and uncoupling of β2-receptors. The use of a LABA as an “add-on controller” is associated with increased risk of asthma exacerbation in children carrying one or two A alleles at rs1042713 |
IL: interleukin; NA: not available; NO: nitric oxide; ICS: inhaled corticosteroid; LTRA: leukotriene receptor antagonist; FEV1: forced expiratory volume in 1 s; Th2: type 2 helper T-cell; ADRB2: β2-adrenoceptor gene; LABA: long-acting β-agonist.