AIM To determine the risk of developing acute bronchial spasm and bronchial hyperreactivity in healthy subjects after inhaling hydrochloric acid aerosol of different pH, since various characteristics of inhaled aerosol, particularly its acidity, contribute to the reduction in lung function in patients with a pre-existing disease. METHODS Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial incl...

The effects of exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (passive smoking) on pulmonary function of non-smoking, healthy Iranian men (n = 167) and women (n = 108) were investigated. There were significant reductions in % predicted FEV1 (5.7%), forced vital capacity (FVC, 4.6%) and forced expiratory flow 25-75% (FEF25-75, 9.9%) among men exposed to cigarette smoke (n = 78). The adverse effect of p...

Forced expiratory spirograms were obtained before and for six hours after 25 subjects ingested ephedrine and placebo in a double-blind crossover study. Significant changes in the forced vital capacity (FVC) and the forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1.0) were noted on days when ephedrine was administrated, while the mean forced expiratory flow during the middle half of the FVC (FEF25-75...

BACKGROUND Recently, it has been proved that fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FENO) results are in disagreement with other measurements of asthma control. The objective of this work is to present and validate new lung function/lung inflammation ratios. METHODS This is a retrospective, cross-sectional study in which we evaluated data from medical documentation of 1,529 pediatric and adolescent...

RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES Farmers experience airway obstruction, which may be attributable in part to endotoxin inhalation. CD14 is a receptor for endotoxin. MATERIALS AND METHODS Based on our findings of increased circulating CD14 associated with the CD14/-159 T allele, we hypothesized that carriers of this allele would have decreased lung function among endotoxin-exposed individuals. CD14/-1...

Inflammatory process contributes to progressive lung tissue damage in cystic fibrosis (CF). Cysteinyl leukotrienes have been found in the sputum of CF patients at concentrations sufficient to cause potent biological effect. This study was designed to assess the effect of anti-inflammatory treatment with montelukast sodium in CF patients. Twelve patients, aged 6-29 were recruited. It was 20 week...

Pulmonary function studies were performed before and after one-time administration of an inhaled bronchodilator to ascertain the relative diagnostic value of using FVC, FEF25-75%, static lung volumes, Raw, and/or sGaw measurements, in addition to the FEV1, to assess the reversibility of chronic airways obstruction in nonasthmatic patients. A total of 517 patients underwent 686 spirometric tests...

The Spirophone is a new, portable transtelephonic spirometer which records the slow and the forced expiratory vital capacity tests. Data can be transmitted via the telephone to a remote receiving centre, where a volume-time curve and the flow-volume curve are displayed on screen in real time. The aim of this study was to compare the newly developed transtelephonic spirometer, with a laboratory ...

Background: abnormal electrolytes concentrations in asthma patients can be attributed to low intake or secondary to asthma medications. Objectives: to identify the pattern of changes in electrolytes concentrations among asthmatic patients and to detect correlations between concentrations of electrolytes and pulmonary function measurements. Materials and Methods: the study involved a control gro...

Wood processing workers are exposed to wood-associated microbiological contaminants, including fungi. Our aim was to study the potential association between sputum fungus and adverse respiratory effects in such workers. In a group of sawmill workers, we administered a respiratory questionnaire, performed lung function testing and quantified the proportions of leukocytes in spontaneously expecto...