Premium
Blood eosinophils in workers with aluminum potroom asthma are increased to higher levels in non‐smokers than in smokers
Author(s) -
Sjåheim Tone,
Kongerud Johny,
Søyseth Vidar
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
american journal of industrial medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.7
H-Index - 104
eISSN - 1097-0274
pISSN - 0271-3586
DOI - 10.1002/ajim.20464
Subject(s) - medicine , spirometry , asthma , asymptomatic , eosinophil , odds ratio , allergy , immunology , confidence interval , occupational asthma , gastroenterology
Background Aluminum potroom asthma (PA) has been described in several reports. This study aimed to investigate the association between blood eosinophils and PA. Methods In a cross‐sectional study, 338 workers were examined as follows: spirometry, blood eosinophils, skin prick test, and work exposure measurements. They also completed a questionnaire on respiratory symptoms, smoking, allergy, and duration of work exposure. Results The odds ratio for PA was 4.2 (95% confidence interval 1.5–9.7) for workers with eosinophils ≥400 × 10 6 cells/L compared with workers with eosinophils <200 × 10 6 cells/L. In non‐smokers, the number of eosinophils was 177 × 10 6 cells/L ( P < 0.001) higher among workers with PA than asymptomatic workers, whereas the corresponding difference among current smokers was only 63 × 10 6 cells/L ( P = 0.03). Conclusions The prevalence of PA was positively associated with blood eosinophils. An attenuation of the blood eosinophil increase was observed in smoking asthmatics, suggesting an immune‐modulating effect of smoking. Am. J. Ind. Med. 50:443–448, 2007. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.