Journal of Asthma and Allergy

Treatable Traits in Asthma and Upper Airway Disease

Journal of Asthma and Allergy is pleased to welcome you to submit your research to the Article Collection "Treatable Traits in Asthma and Upper Airway Disease".

The treatable traits approach offers a pragmatic framework to identify measurable and modifiable factors that contribute to exacerbations, corticosteroid burden, impaired quality of life, and variable treatment response in asthma. These traits may include airway inflammatory patterns, allergic sensitization, mucus hypersecretion, airflow limitation, and extra-bronchial comorbidities. Among these, upper airway diseases such as allergic rhinitis, chronic rhinosinusitis, and nasal polyposis are particularly relevant, reflecting the close anatomical, immunological, and clinical links between the upper and lower airways.

A treatable traits strategy may help clinicians distinguish uncontrolled asthma from difficult-to-treat asthma, severe asthma, and asthma complicated by coexisting airway or systemic conditions. This is especially relevant in the era of precision medicine and biologic therapies, where accurate phenotyping and recognition of shared inflammatory mechanisms across the upper and lower airways are essential to optimize biologic treatment selection, reduce corticosteroid exposure, and improve long-term outcomes.

This Article Collection welcomes clinically focused contributions addressing treatable traits in asthma and related upper airway comorbidities, with particular interest in the interaction between pulmonology, allergy, and otolaryngology. Relevant topics include asthma phenotyping and endotyping, type 2 and non-type 2 inflammatory traits, allergic rhinitis, chronic rhinosinusitis with or without nasal polyps, biologic treatment selection, corticosteroid-sparing strategies, GINA management strategies and how treating these traits modifies asthma control, and integrated care pathways. We welcome authors to submit original research articles, reviews, and clinical studies that provide new insights into treatment optimization across the united airway disease spectrum.

Keywords: Treatable traits; Severe Asthma; Upper Airway Disease; Type 2 Inflammation; Precision Medicine

Meet the Guest Advisors

Dr. Simone Ielo is a pulmonologist working in the Pulmonology Unit and Respiratory Intensive Care Unit at San Donato Hospital, Arezzo, Italy. His clinical and scientific expertise focuses on obstructive airway diseases, including asthma and COPD, interventional pulmonology, and respiratory intensive care.

Dr. Lorenzo Carriera is a pulmonologist working in the Pulmonology and Respiratory Intensive Care Unit at Santa Maria della Misericordia Hospital, Perugia, Italy. His clinical and scientific expertise focuses on type 2 respiratory diseases, with particular interest in severe asthma, biologic therapies, and personalized approaches to patient care. Within the Pulmonology Unit, he coordinates the multidisciplinary team dedicated to the assessment and management of complex respiratory disease.

Prof. Eugenio De Corso is Associate Professor of Otorhinolaryngology at the University of Perugia, and Head of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery Unit at Santa Maria della Misericordia Hospital. His clinical and research expertise focuses on rhinology, chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps, allergic and non-allergic rhinitis, type 2 inflammation, and biologic therapies. He has contributed to research on precision medicine and biologic treatment strategies in chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps, including in patients with comorbid asthma.

Prof. Raffaele Scala is Head of the Pulmonology and Respiratory Intensive Care Unit at San Donato Hospital, Arezzo, Italy, and current President of Italian Thoracic Society (AIPO-ITS). He is a specialist Pulmonology, Anesthesiology and Intensive Care, with extensive clinical and scientific expertise in non-invasive ventilation, acute and chronic respiratory failure, and complex obstructive airway diseases.