EDITORIAL
Exhaled breath condensate
Cyclo-oxygenase-2 inhibitors and COPD: a bright spot?
Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Dr R M Effros
Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Torrance, CA90502-2064, USA; reffros@labiomed.org
Usefulness of exhaled breath condensate for following inflammatory events in the lungs
Keywords: cyclo-oxygenase; exhaled breath condensate; chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; leukotrienes E4
| The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below. |
Before the recent publication of reports linking cyclo-oxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitors with myocardial infarction,1 there was strong evidence that this popular group of analgesics does not have the respiratory complications of non-specific anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS).2 These side effects of the NSAIDs are relatively common (10–20% of asthmatics) and potentially very serious. Patients experience increased inflammation of the sinuses, nasal polyposis, and severe and potentially fatal airway obstruction. It was postulated that NSAIDs reduce production of prostaglandins that protect the airways and increase synthesis of cysteinyl leukotrienes such as leukotriene B4 (LTB4) which aggravate inflammation. The clinical observation that the COX-2 drugs are safe in this respect suggests that inhibition of the COX-1 enzymes is the culprit. It appears that asthmatics can use these very effective analgesics with relatively little risk of exacerbations.
Regardless of the eventual application or modification of NSAIDs and COX-2 inhibitors, widespread use of
CiteULike 
Complore 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us 
Digg 
Reddit 
Technorati What's this?
Services
- Email this link to a friend
- Similar articles in this journal
- Similar articles in PubMed
- Add article to my folders
- Download to citation manager
- Request Permissions
Citing Articles
Google Scholar
PubMed
Topic Collections
-
Inflammation
-
Ischaemic heart disease
-
Ear, nose and throat/otolaryngology
-
Pneumonia (infectious disease)
-
TB and other respiratory infections
Bookmark with
Register for free content
The full back archive is now available for all BMJ Journals. Institutional subscribers may access the entire archive as part of their subscription. Personal subscribers will also have access to all content when logged in. Non-subscribers who register have free access to all articles published before 2006 right back to volume 1 issue 1. Register here to access the free archive of all BMJ Journals.
Don't forget to sign up for content alerts so you keep up to date with all the articles as they are published.
