Chest
Clinical Investigations: AsthmaMatrix Metalloproteinase-9, but not Tissue Inhibitor of Matrix Metalloproteinase-1, Increases in the Sputum from Allergic Asthmatic Patients After Allergen Challenge
Section snippets
Design of the Study
The study consisted of four visits 1 week apart. The first visit consisted of a clinical examination, skin-prick tests, a lung function test, and a methacholine challenge. The second visit was devoted to a sham challenge consisting of the inhalation of isotonic saline solution for 5 min, monitoring of lung function, and an induced sputum test performed 6 h after the inhalation of the saline solution. The third visit was devoted to an allergen challenge to determine the provocative concentration
FEV1 Variations After Allergen Challenge and Clinical Tolerance
In the asthmatic group, FEV1 was significantly reduced when compared to baseline at 5, 15, 30, 60, 300, and 360 min after the allergen inhalation (p < 0.05) [Fig 1]. Six asthmatic patients displayed a late phase, which was defined as a fall in FEV1 of > 15% 6 h after the allergen challenge. None of our patients experienced systemic symptoms such as fever or myalgia.
Sputum Cell Counts and Albumin Levels
Each subject produced adequate sputum on both occasions. When compared to the sputum produced after a sham challenge, the cytology
Discussion
We found that after allergen inhalation, allergic asthmatic patients displayed a significant fall in FEV1, which was accompanied by an eosinophil influx in the airways. Concomitantly, the levels of MMP-9 were higher after allergen challenge than after sham challenge. By contrast, TIMP-1 levels were unaffected by the allergen challenge.
We chose to study patients with mild asthma who had a documented house dust mite allergy in order to investigate a homogeneous group of patients and to use the
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
We thank Jocelyne Sele and Monique Henket for technical assistance.
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This work was supported by Fonds National de la Recherche Scientifique (FNRS, Brussels, Belgium) grant FRSM 3.4603.98, the CGER-Assurance 1996/1999 grant, and the CHU, Liège, Belgium. Dr. Cataldo is a research fellow of the FNRS. Dr. Noe¨l is a senior research associate of the FNRS.
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These authors should be considered equal contributors to the study.