Recent patents in allergy and immunology: A quantitative real‐time polymerase chain reaction method for diagnosing asthma and asthma exacerbation

Background Asthma is diagnosed based on a history of the characteristic symptoms and evidence of expiratory airflow limitation. However, asthma diagnosis using the existing tests is associated with a risk of coronavirus disease 2019 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 spread. In this study, we developed a quantitative real‐time polymerase chain reaction (qRT‐PCR)‐based asthma diagnosis tool. Methods We detected nectin‐4 in the plasma of patients with asthma using qRT‐PCR, explored the relationship of clinical variables. Results quantitative real‐time polymerase chain reaction revealed that plasma nectin‐4 mRNA levels were higher in asthmatics than controls. These results correlated with lung function. Conclusions Those results suggest that qRT‐PCR for nectin‐4 may aid asthma diagnosis and monitoring.