Exhaled breath temperature in airways disease.

levels in eight nonasthmatic patients with allergic rhinitis. At the time of the measurement all patients were exposed to natural allergens and had symptoms of rhinitis. Adenosine concentrations were significantly higher in samples from these patients than in samples from healthy subjects. This result confirms that active allergic inflammation, either of the upper or lower airways, may result in elevation in EBC-adenosine concentration as suggested. Furthermore, when EBC was collected with nasal inhalation adenosine levels were higher than in samples obtained with oral inhalation, suggesting that nasally produced adenosine may enter the lower airways which may, at least in part, be responsible for increases in the adenosine levels [8]. Finally, we agree with L. Spicuzza and colleagues that there is a need for further prospective studies on this topic. We believe these studies need to assess changes in the concentration of adenosine in exhaled breath condensate and also evaluate the relationship between adenosine in exhaled breath condensate and the degree of allergen exposure or deterioration in airway inflammation. Justification of the possible use of the concentration of adenosine in exhaled breath condensate to monitor chronic or acute airway inflammation also requires further investigation.