Premium
Effect of ethanol on airway caliber and nonspecific bronchial responsiveness in patients with alcohol‐induced asthma
Author(s) -
Myou S.,
Fujimura M.,
Nishi K.,
Watanabe K.,
Matsuda M.,
Ohka T.,
Matsuda T.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
allergy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.363
H-Index - 173
eISSN - 1398-9995
pISSN - 0105-4538
DOI - 10.1111/j.1398-9995.1996.tb04550.x
Subject(s) - asthma , methacholine , bronchoconstriction , medicine , ethanol , bronchial hyperresponsiveness , acetaldehyde , inhalation , alcohol , anesthesia , saline , crossover study , placebo , respiratory disease , lung , chemistry , pathology , biochemistry , alternative medicine
No study has investigated the effects of ethanol on bronchial responsiveness in patients with alcohol‐induced asthma, although acetaldehyde, which is a metabolite of ethanol and is thought to be a main factor in alcohol‐induced asthma, causes both bronchoconstriction and bronchial hyperresponsiveness. The purpose of this study was to investigate the direct action of ethanol on the airway in patients with alcohol‐induced asthma. First, we investigated the bronchial response to inhalation of ascending doses (5, 10, and 20%) of ethanol in nine patients with alcohol‐induced asthma. Then, the bronchial responsiveness to methacholine was measured in 14 patients who were pretreated with saline or 20% ethanol in a double‐blind, randomized, placebo‐controlled, crossover fashion. Ascending doses of inhaled ethanol caused no significant changes in FEV 1 . The methacholine concentrations producing a 20% fall in FEV 1 (PC 20 ‐MCh) after 20%) ethanol (0.769 mg/ml, GSEM 1.514) were significantly ( P = 0.0357) higher than those after saline (0.493 mg/ml, GSEM 1.368). This indicates that ethanol has a reducing effect on nonspecific bronchial responsiveness in patients with alcohol‐induced asthma; this paper is the first report on the effects of ethanol on bronchial responsiveness.