Cardiopulmonary responses of asthmatic children to exercise: Analysis of systolic and diastolic cardiac function

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate aerobic exercise capacity, cardiac features and function in a group of asthmatic children who underwent medical treatment. Dynamic exercise testing was done to evaluate aerobic exercise capacity. Echocardiography was performed to identify the effects that asthma-induced pulmonary changes have on respiratory and cardiac function in these patients. The study involved 20 asthmatic children (aged 7-16 years) who were followed at our hospital and 20 age- and sex-matched, healthy control subjects. Sixteen of the asthma cases were moderate and four were severe. All 40 subjects underwent similar series of assessments: multiple modes of echocardiography, treadmill stress testing, pulmonary function testing. The means for forced expiratory volume in 1 sec, forced expiratory flow 25-75%, maximal voluntary ventilation and inspiratory capacity were all significantly higher in the control group. The patient group had significantly lower mean maximal oxygen uptake and mean endurance time than the controls but there were no significant differences between the groups with respect to respiratory exchange ratio or the ventilatory threshold. The control group means for ejection fraction, fractional shortening, left ventricular mass, and left ventricular mass index were significantly higher than the corresponding patient group results. Children with moderate or severe asthma have lower aerobic capacity than healthy children of the same age. The data suggest that most of these children have normal diastolic cardiac function, but exhibit impaired systolic function and have lower LVM than healthy peers of the same age.

Aerobic capacity and skeletal muscle function in children with asthma

“…Interestingly, this issue remains controversial because there are few studies comparing peak VO 2 between children with and without asthma. Only two studies have shown that patients with severe persistent asthma have lower maximal aerobic capacity than controls 35 36. However, two studies have shown that children with asthma have a similar maximum aerobic capacity compared with children without asthma 37 38…”

Regulation of Electroneutral NaCl Absorption by the Small Intestine

“…At least two mammalian Cl − /HCO 3 − exchangers, Slc26a3 (DRA) and Slc26a6 (PAT-1), are highly expressed in the apical membrane of intestinal epithelium (Figure 1C). Recently Slc26a9, which functions as a nCl − /HCO 3 − exchanger and Cl − channel (7), has also been located at the apical membrane of the the small intestine and colon (8). In 2000s, knockout mice for Nhe2 , Nhe3 , Slc26a3 , and Slc26a6 were studied and their roles in vivo have been analyzed.…”

The Effect of Acute Allergic Reactions on Diastolic Heart Function

“…Although there was no signi cant di erence between the study group and the control group in terms of diastolic function at Day 0, there was signi cant di erence in terms of some parameters between Day 0 and Day 5 suggesting a develop- In studies on patients with allergic reactions, coronary spasm, plaque rupture and cytokines have been previously implicated in the impairment of systolic heart functions, [8,9,10,11]. It is likely that similar mechanisms may impair diastolic heart function thorough similar pathways.…”