We compared the cumulative dose-response curves obtained during carbachol inhalation by simultaneous measurements of airway specific conductance (sGaw) and respiratory conductance, in 23 subjects with or without bronchial hyperresponsiveness. The sGaw was measured by a body plethysmograph, whilst the random noise forced oscillation technique (FOT) was used to determine respiratory conductance. ...

BACKGROUND Bronchial responsiveness is known to be related to atopy, but the relative contribution of sensitisation to individual allergens in the UK, or whether serum total IgE is an independent risk factor, is unknown. METHODS A random sample of 1864 men and women aged 20-44 years, drawn from family health service registers in Cambridge, Ipswich and Norwich, was invited to answer a detailed...

BACKGROUND In asthmatic patients methacholine or histamine challenge may result in more rapid and shallow breathing. Bronchoconstriction can also be associated with changes in the pattern of breathing. However, few studies, particularly in patients with asthma, have investigated the possibility that changes in the pattern of breathing may precede the onset of bronchoconstriction. METHODS Eigh...

1. Nasal and bronchial mucociliary clearance have been studied in ten non-smokers (aged 19-23 years). Nasal mucociliary transport was evaluated by measuring the transport rate of a single radioactive (99mTc) particle deposited on the nasal mucosa. Bronchial clearance was measured after inhalation of insoluble radioactive anionic particles (diameter 7.4 +/- 1.5 micrometer). The initial depositio...

RATIONALE Airway hyperresponsiveness to adenosine monophosphate (AMP) has been validated as a surrogate marker for airway inflammation. We wished to know whether an abbreviated challenge at the final threshold dose would produce the same fall in FEV1 as a full, conventional dose-response challenge. METHODS Seventeen patients with mild-to-moderate asthma (mean FEV1, 75.5% predicted) attended f...

In this pilot study, algorithms for quantitatively evaluating the distribution and heterogeneity of human ventilation imaged with hyperpolarized (HP) (3)He MRI were developed for the goal of examining structure-function relationships within the asthmatic lung. Ten asthmatic and six healthy human subjects were imaged with HP (3)He MRI before bronchial challenge (pre-MCh), after bronchial challen...

BACKGROUND The links between asthma and rhinitis are now referred to as united airways disease (UAD). Current evidence shows that the UAD model seems to be applicable to occupational rhinitis (OR) and occupational asthma (OA). A study was undertaken to objectively assess, in the context of specific inhalation challenge (SIC) testing, the concomitance of bronchial and nasal reaction in the inves...

OBJECTIVE To update the scientific evidence of subcutaneous immunotherapy (SCIT) in children. DATA SOURCES PubMed, EMBASE, and known articles. STUDY SELECTION All publications on SCIT in pediatric patients from January 2006 to April 2011. Study design was not a restriction. The articles were analyzed according to their outcomes and evaluated on their scientific quality using the Grading of ...

Occupational asthma in coal miners is hardly recognised. A report is presented of a coal miner whose clinical picture suggested a respiratory allergy which occurred only in the mine where he worked. Serum specific IgE levels, skin tests, and bronchial provocation tests with different commercial extracts showed sensitisation to Rhizopus nigricans. Rhizopus spp were found inside the mine, as demo...