BACKGROUND Prior research has shown that removing occupational asthmatics from exposure does not routinely lead to significant improvements in respiratory impairment. These studies were of limited duration and factors determining recovery remain obscure. Our objective was to evaluate residual respiratory impairment and associated sputum and blood biomarkers in subjects with Western red cedar as...

BACKGROUND Platelet activating factor (PAF) has been implicated in the pathogenesis of airway hyperresponsiveness in asthma. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of a selective PAF antagonist (WEB 2086), given in doses known to antagonise the effects of inhaled PAF in human subjects, on allergen induced early and late asthmatic responses and on airway hyperresponsiveness. MET...

When administered by inhalation, bradykinin provokes dose-related bronchoconstriction in asthmatic subjects by a mechanism believed to involve activation of sensory nerve endings. However, little is known of the change in airway responsiveness to bradykinin after cyclo-oxygenase blockade. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of the potent cyclo-oxygenase inhibitor, lysine ...

BACKGROUND Guidelines recommend stepping down inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) in patients with well-controlled asthma. However, no information is available on the index that should be used to predict the outcome of reducing the ICS dose. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to investigate the degree of airway responsiveness to adenosine 5' monophosphate (AMP) as an index for deciding whether to ...

This study was carried out to determine whether the increase in airway responsiveness induced by natural antigenic exposure in nonasthmatic subjects is associated with an increase in maximal bronchoconstrictor response (MBR), and if these changes could be due to an increase in airway wall thickness from allergen-induced increase in airway inflammation. In 11 nonasthmatic subjects with seasonal ...

PURPOSE Aspirin-exacerbated respiratory disease (AERD) has attracted a great deal of attention because of its association with increased asthma severity. However, oral aspirin challenge (OAC) to diagnose AERD is a time-consuming procedure, and some patients experience serious complications. Thus, we evaluated diagnostic values of non-invasive clinical parameters to predict AERD in asthmatic pat...

Beta 2 agonists reduce airway hypersensitivity to bronchoconstrictor stimuli acutely in patients with asthma and chronic obstructive lung disease. To determine whether these drugs also protect against excessive airway narrowing, the effect of inhaled salbutamol on the position and shape of the dose-response curves for histamine or methacholine was investigated in 12 patients with asthma and 11 ...

Kinins are oligopeptides that may act as mediators in the pathogenesis of bronchial asthma by interacting with specific cell surface receptors designated B1 and B2. When administered by inhalation to asthmatic subjects, bradykinin and kallidin, but not [desArg9]-bradykinin, provoke potent bronchoconstriction, thus suggesting a specific effect compatible with the stimulation of B2 receptors. To ...

BACKGROUND Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is characterized by irreversible airflow limitation and airway inflammation, accompanied by decreased health status. It is still unknown which factors are responsible for the impaired health status in COPD. We postulated that airway inflammation negatively contributes to health status in COPD. METHODS In 114 COPD patients (99 male, age: ...

BACKGROUND The definition of "clinical asthma remission" is based on absence of symptoms and use of medication. However, in the majority of these subjects airway inflammation is still present when measured. In the present study we investigated whether "complete asthma remission", additionally defined by the absence of bronchial hyperresponsiveness (BHR) and the presence of a normal lung functio...