Research progress of fractional exhaled nitric oxide in infants with wheezing

In recent years, the morbidity rate of pediatric asthma showed a rising trend.The typical symptom of recurrent wheezing(>3 times/year) in infants is the starting point for the diagnosis of asthma in children and may be the early clinical manifestation of asthma.Chronic airway inflammation, which inducing airway hyperresponsiveness is the main pathophysiology of recurrent episodes of wheezing.Monitoring of fractional exhaled nitric oxide(FeNO) is a simple, fast, effective, and noninvasive marker of airway inflammation in asthma.The concentration of nitric oxide can effectively reflect the airway inflammation and is positively correlated with the severity of airway inflammation.Monitoring airway inflammation is helpful to diagnose and treat the asthmatic children, and for predicting asthma exacerbation, guiding and monitoring the asthma.Thus, this review will discuss FeNO measurements among wheezing infants and asthmatic that have been identified in large-scale studies recently. Key words: Wheezing; Airway inflammation; Fractional exhaled nitric oxide