Investigation of the effect of ketotifen on alcohol-induced asthma: a case study.
A male patient with bronchial asthma suffered severe exacerbation of symptoms after drinking alcohol and this was not prevented by treatment with bronchodilators. After taking 1 mg ketotifen twice daily for nasal obstruction, within 1 month there was no longer any exacerbation of symptoms by alcohol. Blood samples were taken and peripheral eosinophils were purified and incubated with beer antigen. Using a chemiluminescence method, it was shown that pretreatment with ketotifen dose dependently inhibited the generation of the highly reactive oxygen metabolite superoxide (O2-) by the eosinophils. It is proposed that ketotifen prevented the alcohol-exacerbated asthma attacks by inhibiting the release of tissue-damaging superoxide from eosinophils.
Kurosawa
M
M
First Department of Internal Medicine, Gunma University School of Medicine, Maebashi, Japan.
Kobayashi
S
S
D001249:Asthma / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000188:drug therapy; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004804:Eosinophils / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology; D000431:Ethanol / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006801:Humans; D007665:Ketotifen / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013482:Superoxide Dismutase / Q000378:metabolism
D000431:Ethanol; D013482:Superoxide Dismutase; D007665:Ketotifen