Comparative action of acetyl-beta-methylcholine, histamine, and pollen antigens in subjects with hay fever and patients with bronchial asthma

Clinical Investigation of Allergic Rhinitis and Allied Conditions

“…An inexpensive peak flow meter (46) or a vitalograph (13), equipped with an anaesthetic face mask for nasal breathing have been proposed as objective and quantitative measures of blockage following nasal allergen provocation. Rhinomanometry is a more reliable method (26), and is therefore preferable for research purposes, but the procedure is rather laborious and the equipment expensive.…”

“…From io patients with and without asthma (37). On the other hand, the responses to allergen inhalation in these two groups are so similar that they cannot be used to distinguish hay fever from asthma (8), although there are some quantitative differences (46).…”

The biologically active leukotrienes. Biosynthesis, metabolism, receptors, functions, and pharmacology.

“…It is particularly intriguing to speculate that the sulfidopeptide leukotrienes may be critical to the clinical problem ofbronchial asthma, a condition marked by "hyperirritability" of the airways as defined by impaired pulmonary function in response to inhalation ofpharmacologic agonists and irritants at concentrations that are inactive in normal individuals (97,98). When asymptomatic asthmatic subjects with a demonstrated hyperreactivity to inhaled histamine received LTD4 by aerosol, the average concentration evoking a 30% decrement in maximal midexpiratory airflow, measured at 30% of vital capacity (V30), was similar to that having a comparable action in normal subjects (41,42).…”

Leukotriene E4-induced airway hyperresponsiveness of guinea pig tracheal smooth muscle to histamine and evidence for three separate sulfidopeptide leukotriene receptors.

“…A hallmark of bronchial asthma is the elicitation of bronchoconstriction by inhalation of contractile agonists and nonspecific irritants at concentrations that are not active on the airways of normal individuals (1)(2)(3). The mechanisms responsible for this characteristic of bronchial asthma, generally termed airway hyperresponsiveness, are unknown, although such a state can be created or enhanced by respiratory infections (4) or by inhalation of allergen in asthmatic subjects (5).…”