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 (25) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Kanazawa, H. Articles by Yoshikawa, J. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Kanazawa, H. Articles by Yoshikawa, J.

Vascular Involvement in Exercise-Induced Airway Narrowing in Patients With Bronchial Asthma^*

^* From the Department of Respiratory Disease, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka City University, Osaka, Japan.

Correspondence to: Hiroshi Kanazawa MD, Department of Respiratory Disease, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka City University, 1–4-3, Asahi-machi, Abenoku, Osaka, 545-8585, Japan; e-mail: kanazawa-h{at}med.osaka-cu.ac.jp

Study objectives: The bronchial microcirculation has the potential to contribute to the pathophysiologic mechanisms of exercise-induced bronchoconstriction (EIB) in asthmatic patients. This study was designed to determine whether increase in airway vascular permeability is associated with the severity of EIB in asthmatic patients.

Design: Cross-sectional analysis.

Setting: University hospital. Participants: Twenty-five asthmatic patients and 12 normal control subjects.

Interventions: All asthmatics performed an exercise test, and the percentage of maximal fall in FEV₁ and the area under the curve of the percentage fall in FEV₁ plotted against time for 30 min (AUC_0–30) were determined.

Measurements and results: The inflammatory indexes, NO levels, and airway vascular permeability index (ratio of albumin concentrations in induced sputum and serum) were examined in all subjects. The airway vascular permeability index was significantly higher in EIB-positive asthmatics (0.031 ± 0.009) than in EIB-negative asthmatics (0.020 ± 0.005, p = 0.0011) and normal control subjects (0.008 ± 0.003, p < 0.0001). We also found that there was a significant correlation between NO levels in induced sputum and the airway vascular permeability index (r = 0.525, p = 0.0101). Moreover, the airway vascular permeability index was significantly correlated with the severity of EIB (percentage of maximal fall in FEV₁ [r = 0.761, p = 0.0002], AUC_0–30 [r = 0.716, p = 0.0005]). However, this index was not significantly correlated with magnitude of eosinophilic inflammation.

Conclusion: Our findings suggest that increased airway vascular permeability due to excessive production of NO correlates with the severity of EIB in asthmatics, and that assessment of albumin flux in airway lining fluid stimulated by hypertonic saline solution is a sensitive predictor of the severity of EIB.

Key Words: bronchial asthma • bronchial circulation • exercise-induced bronchoconstriction • nitric oxide • vascular permeability

This article has been cited by other articles:

				H.-W. Shin, C. D. Schwindt, A. S. Aledia, C. M. Rose-Gottron, J. K. Larson, R. L. Newcomb, D. M. Cooper, and S. C. George Exercise-induced bronchoconstriction alters airway nitric oxide exchange in a pattern distinct from spirometry Am J Physiol Regulatory Integrative Comp Physiol, December 1, 2006; 291(6): R1741 - R1748. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. V. Avdalovic, L. F. Putney, E. S. Schelegle, L. Miller, J. L. Usachenko, N. K. Tyler, C. G. Plopper, L. J. Gershwin, and D. M. Hyde Vascular Remodeling Is Airway Generation-Specific in a Primate Model of Chronic Asthma Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med., November 15, 2006; 174(10): 1069 - 1076. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. P. Parsons and J. G. Mastronarde Exercise-Induced Bronchoconstriction in Athletes Chest, December 1, 2005; 128(6): 3966 - 3974. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				T. S. Hallstrand, M. W. Moody, M. M. Wurfel, L. B. Schwartz, W. R. Henderson Jr., and M. L. Aitken Inflammatory Basis of Exercise-induced Bronchoconstriction Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med., September 15, 2005; 172(6): 679 - 686. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				H. Kanazawa, S. Nomura, and J. Yoshikawa Role of Microvascular Permeability on Physiologic Differences in Asthma and Eosinophilic Bronchitis Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med., May 15, 2004; 169(10): 1125 - 1130. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]