Objective      To investigate the relationship between the phenotypes of airway inflammation and the responses to corticosteroid treatment in acute asthma.       Methods      The inflammatory cells of the induced sputum obtained from 85 patients with acute asthma were classified

and the relationship between the phenotypes of airway inflammation and the dose of systemic corticosteroid and the treatment time of corticosteroid treatment was retrospectively analyzed in these patients.       Results      According to the classification of the sputum cells

the 85 acute asthmatic patients were divided into four groups including an eosinophil group (31.8%

27/85)

a neutrophil group (30.6%

26/85)

a mixed cell group (16.4%

14/85) and a pauci-granulocyte group (21.2%

18/85). There was no significant difference of sex and smoking among the four groups (P0.05)

but the severity of acute asthma of the eosinophil group was significantly different from that of the mixed cell group (P0.05). The total dose of systemic corticosteroid and the treatment time were significantly less in the eosinophil group than in the mixed cell group and the pauci-granulocyte group (P0.05)

while the total dose of inhaled corticosteroid and the treatment time were significantly more in the mixed cell group than in the eosinophil group (P0.05). The total dose of inhaled corticosteroid in the mixed cell group was significantly higher than that of the neutrophil group

while the hospitalization time of the mixed cell group was significantly longer than that of the eosinophil group (P0.05). There was no significant difference of the dose and treatment time of systemic and inhaled corticosteroid and the hospitalization time among the rest of the groups (P0.05).       Conclusion      Different phenotypes of airway inflammation may have different responses to corticosteroid treatment in acute asthma

which may provide important clinical implications for the treatment of acute asthma.