Bronchial Hyperresponsiveness on Pathogenesis of Intractable Asthma

Makino Sohei, Mano Kenji, Shida Takao, Yui Yasuo, Kato Kazuyuki

doi:10.15036/arerugi.24.21

Intractable asthma is defined as a type of bronchial asthma which is resistant to conventional therapies and, consequently, steroid-dependent for keeping patients' daily lives active. This study was aimed at investigating whether or not and how hyperresponsiveness of the bronchi played a role to make asthma intractable among patients with such type of asthma. The responsiveness of the bronchi was expressed as the threshold value to acetylcholine, i.e., the minimal amount of acetylcholine to induce bronchoconstriction. Seventy patients with asthma were divided into 4 groups, i) mild ii) seasonal iii) perennial and iv) intractable. The geometric means of the threshold values were 1135, 1143, 483 and 245μg/ml, respectively. The difference of mean values between group ii and iv is statistically significant at 1% level. These results show that the responsiveness of the bronchi is increased among patients with intractable asthma as compared with those with less severe asthma. The distribution of the threshold value in each group overlapped widely. So that, hyperresponsiveness of the bronchi does not seem to be only one factor to make asthma intractable. Inhalation of 5% orciprenaline raised the threshold value by 4 times in intractable group and by 10 times in other groups. This defference is not statistcally significant. Forty mg of prednisolone hemisuccinate i.v. or 3 days' oral administration of prednisolone, 10 mg per day, brought slight but statsitcally significant increase of the threshold value among patients with asthma. Corticosteroids seem to suppress the hyperresponsiveness of the bornchi in asthma.

Bronchial Hyperresponsiveness on Pathogenesis of Intractable Asthma

Bibliographic Information

Search this article

Description

Journal

Details 詳細情報について

Export

Report a problem