The clinical heterogeneity of asthma patients has been increasingly recognised within the last years. Recent studies and articles highlighted the idea of asthma not beeing a single disease but rather a unifying term for multiple phenotypes. Phenotype in this sense is defined as the combination of observable properties of an organism, that are produced by the interactions of a genotype and the environment. In contrast, endotype describes a specific underlying pathophysiological pathway. Linking asthma phenotypes and endotypes in a system biological approach is an important research goal in order to develop targeted therapy, especially for severe asthma.
The advantage the investigators' cohort provides is the collaboration with an equivalent pediatric cohort. In this setting questions regarding disease onset, exacerbation and chronicity can be posed and worked with in a comprehensive manner.
