HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:
Guest Access | Sign In via User Name/Password

This Article Full Text Free Full Text (PDF) Free Submit a response Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to My Personal Article Archive Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (8) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Prieto, L. Articles by Uixera, S. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Prieto, L. Articles by Uixera, S.

Exhaled Nitric Oxide and Bronchial Responsiveness to Adenosine 5'-Monophosphate in Subjects With Allergic Rhinitis^*

^* From the Sección de Alergología (The NAOMI Project), Universidad de Valencia, Valencia, Spain.

Correspondence to: Luis Prieto, PhD, Sección de Alergología, Hospital Universitario Dr. Peset, C/Gaspar Aguilar 90, 46017 Valencia, Spain; e-mail: prieto_jes{at}gva.es

Study objectives: To determine differences in exhaled nitric oxide (ENO) between subjects with allergic rhinitis with and without increased responsiveness to direct and indirect bronchoconstrictor agents.

Study design: Cross-sectional study with the order of challenge tests randomized.

Setting: Specialist allergy unit in a university hospital.

Patients: Thirty-eight subjects without asthma with allergic rhinitis and 10 healthy nonatopic control subjects.

Measurements and results: Participants were challenged with increasing concentrations of adenosine 5'monophosphate (AMP) and methacholine. ENO was measured with the single-exhalation method. A positive response to both bronchoconstrictor agents was detected in nine subjects with allergic rhinitis, whereas four subjects showed increased responsiveness to AMP but not to methacholine. The geometric mean (range) ENO values were significantly higher in subjects with allergic rhinitis with increased responsiveness to either methacholine or AMP than in subjects with normal responsiveness to both agonists: 51.3 parts per billion (ppb) [22.0 to 108.5 ppb] vs 25.1 ppb (5.7 to 102.9 ppb, respectively; p = 0.007) and healthy control subjects (11.2 ppb [5.0 to 31.9 ppb], p < 0.001). Subjects with allergic rhinitis with normal responsiveness to both agonists also had higher concentrations of ENO than healthy control subjects (p = 0.007). No correlation was found between ENO and either of the provocative concentrations of methacholine or AMP causing a 20% fall in FEV₁.

Conclusions: In subjects without asthma but with allergic rhinitis, the presence of bronchoconstriction in response to methacholine or AMP is associated with increased ENO concentrations. However, elevated concentrations of ENO are detected even in subjects with allergic rhinitis without airway hyperresponsiveness. These results suggest that the presence of airway hyperresponsiveness is not the only factor that determines the increased NO levels detected in subjects with allergic rhinitis.

Key Words: adenosine 5'-monophosphate • airway responsiveness • allergic rhinitis • methacholine • nitric oxide

This article has been cited by other articles:

				L. Prieto, L. Bruno, V. Gutierrez, S. Uixera, C. Perez-Frances, A. Lanuza, and A. Ferrer Airway Responsiveness to Adenosine 5'-Monophosphate and Exhaled Nitric Oxide Measurements: Predictive Value as Markers for Reducing the Dose of Inhaled Corticosteroids in Asthmatic Subjects Chest, October 1, 2003; 124(4): 1325 - 1333. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]