RESUMO
It has been found that among patients with bronchial asthma (BA) there are individuals with primary complete or partial lymphocytic resistance to glucocorticoid hormones (GC), which is apparently to be associated with cellular immunodeficiency and lower counts of young cortisol-sensitive cells in these patients. This condition may be aggravated with GC use and may appear as steroid dependence with all its clinical manifestations. It has been demonstrated that cellular steroid dependence may be either decreased or completely eliminated by special therapy aimed at enhancing lymphocytic sensitivity to hormones. Nicotinamide served as the drug of choice, which promoted the recovery of GC lymphocytic sensitivity, which may be attributed to the positive effects of the drug on the systemic immunity of BA patients.