When administered by inhalation, adenosine 5'-monophosphate (AMP) provokes dose-related bronchoconstriction in asthmatic subjects by a mechanism believed to involve mast cell mediator release. However, little is known of the change in airway responsiveness to AMP after cyclo-oxygenase blockade. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of the potent cyclo-oxygenase inhibitor, lysine a...

Background There is evidence that paternal and maternal lung function influence children’s pulmonary function. To date, the most widely used pulmonary function test (PFT) to assess airway responsiveness is the PC20 (concentration of methacholine required to decrease FEV1 by 20%). However, other measures of parental lung function may be better predictors of airway responsiveness or asthma develo...

BACKGROUND Airway hyperresponsiveness, induced sputum eosinophils, and exhaled nitric oxide (NO) levels have all been proposed as non-invasive markers for monitoring airway inflammation in patients with asthma. The aim of this study was to compare the changes in each of these markers following treatment with inhaled glucocorticosteroids in a single study. METHODS In a randomised, double blind...

Cold air inhalation and exercise-induced bronchoconstriction (EIB) have both been used as measures of bronchial responsiveness. Both stimuli are often combined in the Nordic climate. The main objective of the present study was to investigate the climatic influence of cold temperatures upon exercise-induced asthma. The secondary aims were: (a) to assess metacholine bronchial hyper-responsiveness...

OBJECTIVES To define pulmonary involvement on high resolution computed tomography (HRCT) of the thorax in lifelong non-smoking rheumatoid arthritis patients and to relate the results to pulmonary function, bronchial reactivity, and a variety of clinical and serological factors. METHODS Twenty lifelong non-smoking RA patients (mean age 59 years (range 44-72; 18 females) were studied. Detailed ...

BACKGROUND Asthma exacerbations are closely associated with respiratory virus infections. However, the pathophysiological consequences of such infections in asthma are largely unclear. OBJECTIVE To examine the effect of rhinovirus 16 (RV16) infection on airway hypersensitivity to histamine, and on interleukin-8 (IL-8) in nasal lavage. METHODS Twenty-seven non-smoking atopic, mildly asthmati...

Inhalation of neurokinin (NK) A causes bronchoconstriction in patients with asthma. The NKA-induced bronchoconstriction in isolated human airways is mediated via the NK2 receptor and inhibited by SR 48968, a potent and specific nonpeptide tachykinin NK2 receptor antagonist. In the present study, the effect of orally administered SR 48968 on NKA-induced bronchoconstriction was examined in 12 mil...

Background—Airway hyperresponsiveness, induced sputum eosinophils, and exhaled nitric oxide (NO) levels have all been proposed as non-invasive markers for monitoring airway inflammation in patients with asthma. The aim of this study was to compare the changes in each of these markers following treatment with inhaled glucocorticosteroids in a single study. Methods—In a randomised, double blind, ...

In an investigation of a rapid screening test for airway reactivity using isocapnic hyperventilation with room air and cold air the results of this test were compared with the airway response to histamine and methacholine challenge. Twelve non-atopic, non-smoking normal subjects and 11 subjects with stable asthma who had an FEV1 above 74% of the predicted value were studied. In the normal subje...

TO THE EDITOR: Sorkness et al. (1) show that the forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) expressed as percent predicted can be broken down into its two components, forced vital capacity (FVC) and FEV1/FVC, also expressed as percent predicted. They claim that “this is a novel approach [for partitioning the FEV1] in a quantitative manner”. In fact, this quantitative novelty was introduced 12 years...