Serum hydrogen sulphide levels in acute asthmatic children: a case control study

• Published in: The Gazette of the Egyptian Paediatric Association Vol. 71; no. 1; pp. 31 - 7
• Main Authors: Abdallah Abd El Megied, Mohamed, Motey, Mohammad Abdel Fattah Abdel, Amen, Ahmed Salama
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01-12-2023; Springer; Springer Nature B.V; SpringerOpen
• Subjects: Acute asthma; Age; Apoptosis; Asthma; Asthma in children; Children; Confidence intervals; Emergency medical services; Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; Enzymes; Heart rate; Hematology; Hydrogen; Hydrogen sulfide; Hydrogen sulphide; Laboratories; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Monoclonal antibodies; Pediatrics; Standard deviation; Steroids; Egypt; Hydrogen sulphide; Acute asthma; Children
• ISSN: 2090-9942; 1110-6638; 2090-9942
• DOI: 10.1186/s43054-023-00177-8

Background
It’s thought that respiratory epithelium-produced reduced hydrogen sulphide (H
2
S) plays a role in the pathophysiology of acute asthma. In this case–control research, blood H
2
S levels were examined between matched acutely asthmatic children and non-asthmatic controls. The grade of acute asthma, vital signs and absolute eosinophilic count in the asthmatic children were likewise associated with the blood H
2
S level.
Methods
Forty Egyptian asthmatic children had visited the emergency room and forty age- and sex-matched non-asthmatic controls had their blood H
2
S levels measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).
Results
The serum H
2
S in the two groups did not differ statistically significantly. Serum H
2
S and respiratory rate showed a moderately significant inverse connection (
r
 = -0.325,
p
 = 0.041). However, serum H
2
S and other clinical or laboratory variables exhibited no meaningful relationships. Patients' absolute and percentage eosinophil counts were considerably higher than healthy controls. Serum H
2
S exhibited a sensitivity of 50% and a specificity of 32.5% for identifying children with acute asthma from non-asthmatic children.
Conclusion
Children with asthma and those without asthma had similar serum H
2
S levels. It has a lousy relationship with respiratory rate. It is indicated that it is an inadequate screening and diagnostic tool since it has low sensitivity (50%) and specificity (32.5%) in differentiating acute asthmatic children.