Ravi A, Goorsenberg AWM, Dijkhuis A, et al. - This study was sought to ascertain if transcriptomes of bronchial epithelial cells (BEC) reflect heterogeneity in inflammation and severity in asthma, and if this was affected in BEC in severe asthma after their regeneration by bronchial thermoplasty. Researchers conducted RNA-sequencing on BEC obtained by bronchoscopy from healthy controls ( n=16), mild ( n=17), moderate ( n=5), and severe ( n=17) asthma patients and, from the latter, also 6 months after bronchial thermoplasty from treated and untreated airways ( n=23). They conducted lipidome and metabolome analyses on cultured BEC from healthy controls ( n=7), severe asthmatics ( n=9), and, for comparison, COPD patients ( n=7). The findings illustrated that BECs are metabolically different from those of healthy individuals in asthma. It has been reported that these variations associated with inflammation, asthma severity and can be reversed by bronchial thermoplasty.