Clinical studyAssociation of forced expiratory volume with disease duration and sputum neutrophils in chronic asthma☆
Section snippets
Methods
We recruited patients through the respiratory outpatient clinic and community contacts. All subjects were required to have had a diagnosis of asthma according to criteria established by the American Thoracic Society (1) for at least 5 years, and to have been clinically stable within the preceding month. All were to be nonsmokers, or to have stopped smoking at least 5 years earlier and have smoked a maximum of 5 pack-years. The study was approved by the West Ethics Committee, West Glasgow
Results
Ninety-seven patients (51 women) successfully completed the study (Table 1); all but 5 were treated with oral prednisolone. Ninety-five patients were taking regular inhaled steroids, and 7 also took oral steroids. In addition, 42 patients were using long-acting beta-agonists, 12 used oral theophylline, and 10 used ipratropium bromide, in varying combinations. Fifty-nine patients (29 women) produced samples of sputum suitable for analysis. In 56 patients (58%), recall of asthma duration was
Discussion
We found an inverse correlation between disease duration and maximal lung function (FEV1) in nonsmoking patients who had chronic asthma. The maximal FEV1 value was recorded after inhaled bronchodilator treatment and a trial of high-dose steroid therapy; thus, we believe it is an indicator of irreversible airflow obstruction. We also found an inverse correlation between induced sputum neutrophil counts, and myeloperoxidase and IL-8 levels and maximal FEV1. Both disease duration and sputum
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This study was funded by a grant from the National Asthma Campaign, London, United Kingdom.