High dose inhaled salbutamol is increasingly used in the management of chronic obstructive airways disease. To determine the range of doses to achieve optimal bronchodilatation and the proportion of patients requiring high dose therapy we have studied 23 patients with chronic obstructive airways disease. Cumulative dose responses were measured to six incremental doses of salbutamol (0.2 to 1.2 ...

The bronchodilator potencies of inhaled atropine sulphate and atropine methonitrate have been compared either alone or in combination with fenoterol in a group of adult asthmatic patients. A cumulative dose response study showed that 2 mg of atropine sulphate produced near maximum bronchodilatation. A larger dose of 4 mg was used in comparing the potency of this drug with 2 mg of atropine metho...

The bronchodilator effect of sodium cromoglycate (SCG) solution was investigated. Twenty asthmatic children aged 6-15 years (mean 11.3) were examined and the action of SCG compared with that of salbutamol and placebo (water). SCG produced a significantly raised peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) before exercise, which reached a maximum immediately after exercise. The bronchodilatation was sustain...

Cumulative inhalation dose-response curves for the response to prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) have been constructed in normal subjects and patients with mild, stable asthma. In normal subjects cumulative inhalation dose-response curves were also constructed for salbutamol. In normal subjects dose-related bronchodilatation occurred in response to both PGE2 and salbutamol, although both the within-subje...

The relative efficiency of the metered dose inhaler (MDI), the MDI attached to a pear shaped extension tube (PET), and the Inspiron Mini-Neb nebuliser were assessed in eight normal and eight asthmatic subjects. Subjects inhaled the same increasing doses of terbutaline with each technique on different occasions and the response was measured as specific airway conductance (sGaw) and, in the asthm...

The potency and side effects of salbutamol and fenoterol inhalers have been compared in 8 asthmatic patients using a dose response curve. There was no significant difference in the absolute or percentage increase in FEV1 with the two treatments, but fenoterol caused a significantly greater (P less than 0.01) increase in heart rate than did salbutamol. A greater degree of bronchodilatation was o...