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Article History

Received: 31 December 2025

Accepted: 28 May 2026

First Online: 19 June 2026

Declarations

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: This study used only de-identified, publicly available datasets from GEO, and no new human subjects were recruited. All original studies obtained ethics approval from their respective institutional review boards. The reanalysis conducted here complies with the Declaration of Helsinki. This study utilized six GEO datasets (GSE172365, GSE250513, GSE85566, GSE104471, GSE201872, and GSE65163), all of which were approved by relevant Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) prior to data collection. Specifically, GSE172365 obtained approvals from multiple IRBs including those of Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, University of Chicago (approval No.: STU00016917), University of Wisconsin-Madison, Western IRB (approval No.: IRB19-0046), University of Puerto Rico (approval No.: 0160713), and University of Pittsburgh (approval No.: PRO14010428); GSE250513 was endorsed by IRBs of seven participating sites such as University of Colorado (approval No.: 17-1807), Johns Hopkins University (approval No.: 00179053), University of Chicago (approval No.: 18-0466-CR001), National Institutes of Health (approval No.: P184385), University of the West Indies (approval No.: 190604-A), University of Bahia (approval No.: 3.302.487), and University of Ibadan (approval No.: 18–0840); GSE85566 and GSE201872 were approved by the IRB of the University of Chicago; GSE104471 received ethical clearance from the IRBs of University of Colorado School of Medicine and National Jewish Health; and GSE65163 was reviewed and approved by a multicenter IRB supported by the Inner-City Asthma Consortium (ICAC) with funding from NIAID. All adult participants provided written informed consent, while minors (8–17 years old) participated with both written parental/guardian consent and their own assent. All datasets were de-identified to protect participant privacy, and data collection and sharing procedures adhered to the ethical standards outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki, relevant local/international regulations (e.g., 45 CFR Part 46), and Good Clinical Practice guidelines. For GSE85566, lung tissues used for airway epithelial cell culture were obtained from the Gift of Hope/Regional Organ and Tissue Donation Network in compliance with organ donation ethical standards, and all researchers involved in the original studies completed CITI training on human subject protection.

: The authors declare no competing interests.