In order to determine the effect of drugs on bronchial hyperreactivity in subjects with asthma, 12 atopic asthmatic volunteers underwent bronchial challenge with either histamine or methacholine on three separate days. Before the challenges no medication was given on the first day, on the second 400 microgram of aerosol fenoterol and on the third 5 mg of oral fenoterol were administered. The ae...

Reduction of exposure to sensitising agents causing occupational asthma has been proposed as an alternative to total avoidance in order to minimise the adverse socio-economic impact of the condition. The aim of this systematic review was to compare the effects of these two management options on asthma and socio-economic outcomes. A bibliographic search was conducted to identify studies examinin...

Background Patients with asthma show a marked phenotypic variability, suggesting etiological heterogeneity and strong environmental influences. Bronchial asthma is determined by a complex interaction between genetic and environmental factors, but these mechanisms are not yet elucidated. The aim of the study was to evaluate peculiarities of the TNFa gene polymorphism (-308 G>A) incidence and its...

bronchial hyperresponsiveness using methacholine and adenosine monophosphate: relationship to asthma severity and (2)-receptor genotype. Am J Respir Crit Care Med 2000; 162:1318–1322 8 Koskela HO, Hyvärinen L, Brannan JD, et al. Responsiveness to three bronchial provocation tests in patients with asthma. Chest 2003; 124:2171–2177 9 Hunter CJ, Brightling CE, Woltmann G, et al. A comparison of th...

Bronchial hyperreactivity has long been recognized as a hallmark of chronic asthma. Less is known about the prevalence and mechanisms of hyperreactivity in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Currently, it is unclear whether the role and mechanisms of hyperreactivity are similar in patients with asthma and COPD or whether the underlying pathophysiologic abnormalities are different for...