Update in asthma 2006.

Asthma-related investigations reported in 2006 ranged from the characterization of clinical asthma and airway obstruction (1–4), to human biologic studies (5, 6) and the use of animal models to better understand pathobiologic mechanisms at a cellular and molecular level (7–19). The concept of “risk” has been featured prominently, with articles identifying factors that increase the risk of developing asthma (20–24) as well as those aimed at identifying risk factors for asthma exacerbations and adverse outcomes (25–29). Studies have continued to explore the utility of noninvasive biomarkers (exhaled nitric oxide, exhaled breath condensate) to identify (30, 31), modify (32), and treat disease while increasing understanding of pathophysiologic mechanisms in asthma (33, 34). Clinical trials have sought to optimize treatment with established asthma drugs (35–37) and to evaluate novel modalities to fill voids in our current armory of asthma medications (38–40). Overall, this year has been an interesting journey, particularly in clinical asthma research, challenging accepted concepts in asthma therapy, and urging clinicians to expand their assessment of patients to identify and modify patient risk in addition to traditional measures of asthma control (41).