The effect of four weeks of treatment with beclomethasone dipropionate (BDP, 500 micrograms twice daily) on the bronchial responsiveness to propranolol was examined in 16 patients with mild asthma in a placebo-controlled, double-blind crossover study. Propranolol was inhaled in doubling concentrations and the results were expressed as the cumulative dose producing a 20 percent fall in FEV1 (PC2...

Ten patients with bronchial asthma were challenged with histamine before and after receiving saline and active drug (levomepromazine or antazoline) (a total of six challenges). The antihistaminic effect of levomepromazine (25 mg) was found to be comparable to that of antazoline (100 mg), evaluated from skin prick tests. Prechallenge forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) was found to be ...

Ibudilast, a unique agent with vasodilating and antiallergic actions, was studied in 13 asthmatics for its effect on airway hypersensitivity to histamine inhalation. The PC20 values improved significantly from 355.6 to 620.5 micrograms/ml at 3 months and further to 731.4 micrograms/ml at 6 months following the initial treatment with ibudilast (20 mg twice daily orally). In addition, the severit...

We examined the relations between bronchial reactivity, baseline FEV1, and annual decline of height corrected FEV1 (delta FEV1/ht3) over 7.5 years in 227 men (117 smokers, 71 ex-smokers, and 39 non-smokers). Men with a clinical diagnosis of asthma or receiving bronchodilator treatment were excluded. Bronchial reactivity was determined as the provocation concentration (PC20) of inhaled histamine...

Asthma patients evaluate the effect of medication treatment through the degree of their asthma symptoms, which might be affected by their ability to perceive these symptoms. It has been suggested that beta2-agonists may mask the effects of an increase in airway inflammation. This study compared the perception of histamine-induced bronchoconstriction during monotherapy with short- or long-acting...

Bronchial hyperresponsiveness (BHR) is a characteristic feature of asthma, and is considered to be one of the major consequences of airway inflammation and remodeling. BHR is usually defined as an increased sensitivity of the airways to inhaled nonsensitizing bronchoconstrictor stimuli, which is evaluated by measuring the dose or concentration (PC20) of inhaled methacholine or histamine that ca...

The aim of this study was to evaluate whether determinants of work-related symptoms, skin sensitization and diseases differ between atopic and nonatopic subjects starting a career with exposure to laboratory animals (LA). A cohort of 417 apprentices in animal-health technology was prospectively followed during 32 or 44 months. The effect on the study outcomes of variables derived from questionn...

BACKGROUND Assessing bronchial hyper-responsiveness (BHR) is a main diagnostic criterion of asthma. Provocation testing is not readily available in general practice, but peak expiratory flow (PEF) is. Several guidelines promote the use of PEF variability as a diagnostic tool for BHR. This study tested the agreement between histamine challenge testing and PEF variability, and the consequences fo...