Increased airway responsiveness (AR) is one of the main pathophysiological manifestations of asthma. The present study aimed to define the clinical features associated with increased AR in infants with recurrent lower respiratory tract symptoms. AR was evaluated by performing a novel dosimetric methacholine challenge test. Increased AR to methacholine, defined as a methacholine dose of < or =0....

Tracheal/chest auscultation for wheeze and transcutaneous oximetry have both been suggested as measures of outcome in bronchial provocation tests in young children. This study aimed to compare the sensitivity and safety of these two techniques as end-points for methacholine challenge in children aged <4 yrs. Seventy-two methacholine challenges were performed in 39 children aged <4 yrs with recu...

3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA reductase inhibitors (statins), are effective serum cholesterol-lowering agents which also have anti-inflammatory properties. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of atorvastatin on bronchial hyperresponsiveness. Adult patients (age 14 to 65 years) with bronchial hyperresponsiveness (BHR) diagnosis based on the spirometry with methacholine challe...

STUDY OBJECTIVE To determine the prevalence of positive results for methacholine challenge tests in asymptomatic Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) cadets with no history of asthma. DESIGN Prospective, blinded cohort comparison study. SETTING Pulmonary diseases clinic in a US Army tertiary-care medical center. PATIENTS One hundred three college students who were undergoing a physical e...

Methacholine challenge studies are often conducted to diagnose asthma in patients with mild or intermittent respiratory symptoms when screening spirometry results are normal. We hypothesized that in patients with increased nonspecific bronchial hyperreactivity (NSB-HR), gas trapping might be present and that this information could be a factor in clinical decision making. To assess the relations...

BACKGROUND Cough is an important symptom of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The cough threshold to citric acid and capsaicin in patients with COPD and in normal volunteers was measured, as well as bronchial hyperresponsiveness to methacholine. METHODS Nineteen patients with COPD and 22 controls were recruited. Subjects underwent a methacholine bronchoprovocation te...

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether inhaled frusemide was able to inhibit the increase in nonspecific bronchial reactivity that occurs after the early response to allergen exposure in subjects with allergic rhinitis or asthma (or both). Ten symptom free patients initially underwent a challenge with methacholine, to determine the dose of methacholine that caused a 15% fall in FE...