Bronchial hyperresponsiveness in subjects with gastroesophageal reflux.
BACKGROUND
The relationship between gastroesophageal reflux (GER) and asthma has been widely studied in the last years. GER may interfere with airway reactivity and aggravate or even induce asthma.


OBJECTIVE
To assess the prevalence of bronchial hyperresponsiveness (BHR) in patients with GER disease with a view to judging the potential influence of GER on BHR.


METHODS
30 patients with GER disease and no clinical evidence of asthma and 30 normal subjects underwent a methacholine bronchial challenge. The methacholine concentration that caused a 20% fall in the FEV(1) (PC20) was used to assess bronchial responsiveness.


RESULTS
In the GER group 11 subjects of the 30 studied showed a PC20 methacholine equal to or less than 8 mg/ml while in the control group only 2 subjects had a PC20 methacholine equal to or less than 8 mg/ml (p < 0.01; ANOVA test).


CONCLUSIONS
Subjects with GER had a greater increase in airway reactivity when inhaling methacholine compared to disease-free normal subjects.
Bagnato
G F
GF
Department of Internal Medicine, University of Messina, Italy. bagnato@imeuniv.unime.it
Gulli
S
S
Giacobbe
O
O
De Pasquale
R
R
Purello D'Ambrosio
F
F
D000328:Adult; D001249:Asthma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology; D016535:Bronchial Hyperreactivity / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D005764:Gastroesophageal Reflux / Q000150:complications*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016210:Methacholine Chloride; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence
D016210:Methacholine Chloride