In adolescence, some paediatric asthma patients will become symptom-free and require no further treatment. There is little information on the atopic status, lung function and bronchial responsiveness of these patients. Symptom-free asthma patients (n=118) aged 7.7-19.2 yrs, were evaluated 1 year after termination of therapy. Bronchial asthma had previously been diagnosed on the basis of recurre...

The prevalence of asthma, bronchial hyperresponsiveness (BHR) and allergic rhinitis in children was lower in East Germany compared to West Germany. The reasons for this difference are still not understood. This study tested the hypothesis that prevalence of BHR increased in East German children after reunification. Two consecutive cross-sectional surveys of schoolchildren aged 8-14 yrs from thr...

Bronchial hyperresponsiveness (BHR) is a characteristic feature of asthma which is often associated with airways inflammation. However, some patients with allergic rhinitis and no clinical evidence of asthma also exhibit BHR. This study therefore investigated whether inflammatory cell infiltrate is present in the induced sputum of nonasthmatic subjects with allergic rhinitis during the pollen s...

BACKGROUND Patients with seasonal allergic rhinitis may develop bronchial hyperresponsiveness during the active disease period. Eosinophil activation may occur in the bronchial mucosa and may be reflected by increased sputum levels of eosinophil cationic protein (ECP), especially when ECP binding proteins such as alpha 2-macroglobulin pass through the lamina propria and across the epithelium in...

Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) is a pro-inflammatory cytokine that reportedly counteracts the anti-inflammatory effect of endogenous glucocorticoids. There have only been a few reports that demonstrate a potential link between MIF and bronchial asthma. In an attempt to further clarify the precise role of MIF in asthma, the present authors examined the effect of anti-MIF antibody (...

BACKGROUND Fluticasone propionate is a new inhaled corticosteroid with a 2:1 efficacy ratio compared with beclomethasone dipropionate with regard to lung function and symptom scores, without increased systemic activity. The aim of this study was to investigate whether this was also the case for bronchial hyperresponsiveness, assessed by both a direct (histamine) and an indirect (ultrasonically ...