Plasma levels of leukotriene B4 in asthmatic patients.
We measured changes in plasma levels of leukotriene B4 (LTB4) during the clinical course of bronchial asthma. Samples of 2 ml of blood were drawn from the femoral artery of 5 patients on two occasions: a) during remission and b) during an attack. LTB4 levels were determined by a combination of high-performance chromatography with radioimmunoassay. In the 5 asthmatic patients, the LTB4 levels (mean +/- S.D.) on the two occasions were respectively 34.2 +/- 8.6 and 118.0 +/- 49.5 pg/ml. In contrast, the mean LTB4 level of 5 control subjects was 23.5 +/- 3.77 pg/ml. LTB4 levels differed significantly between remission and an attack. The corresponding mean PaCO2 values on the two occasions were respectively 37.7 +/- 1.8 and 47.3 +/- 2.2 mmHg. LTB4 showed good correlation with PaCO2. We therefore suggest that leukotriene B4 levels in arterial blood are associated with the severity of asthmatic attacks.
Shindo
K
K
First Department of Internal Medicine, Yokohama City University School of Medicine, Japan.
Miyakawa
K
K
Fukumura
M
M
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001249:Asthma / Q000097:blood*; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D006801:Humans; D007975:Leukotriene B4 / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011863:Radioimmunoassay; D012720:Severity of Illness Index
D007975:Leukotriene B4