title: Increased leukotrienes in exhaled breath condensate in childhood asthma.
abstract: Cysteinyl leukotrienes (cys-LTs; LTC4, LTD4, and LTE4) are generated predominantly by mast cells and eosinophils and induce airway smooth muscle contraction, microvascular leakage, and mucous hypersecretion whereas leukotriene B4 (LTB4) is a potent chemoattractant of neutrophils. We measured cys-LTs and LTB4 in exhaled breath condensate from children aged 7-14 years including healthy nonatopic children (n = 11) and children with mild intermittent asthma (steroid naive, n = 11), mild persistent asthma (low-dose inhaled steroid treatment, n = 13), or moderate to severe persistent asthma (high-dose inhaled steroid treatment, n = 13). Exhaled LTB4 levels were increased in patients with mild and moderate to severe persistent asthma compared with patients with mild intermittent asthma (126.0 +/- 8.8 and 131.9 +/- 7.1 versus 52.7 +/- 3.8 pg/ml, p < 0.001 and p < 0.0001) and normal subjects (126.0 +/- 8.8 and 131.9 +/- 7.1 versus 47.9 +/- 4.1 pg/ml, p < 0.0001). Elevated exhaled cys-LT levels were found in patients with mild and moderate to severe persistent asthma compared with normal subjects (27.9 +/- 2.8 and 31.5 +/- 4.5 versus 18.5 +/- 0.5 pg/ml, p < 0.01 and p < 0.05). There was an inverse correlation between exhaled cys-LTs and LTB4 in patients with mild persistent asthma. We conclude that exhaled cys-LTs and LTB4 may be noninvasive markers of airway inflammation in pediatric asthma.
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Medicine and Department of Pediatric Respiratory Care, Imperial College School of Medicine, National Heart and Lung Institute, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Zsuzsanna
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Csoma
authors.forename: Sergei A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Kharitonov
authors.forename: Beatrix
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Balint
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bush
authors.forename: Nicola M
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.forename: Peter J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Barnes
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001249:Asthma / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000378:metabolism*; D015415:Biomarkers; D001944:Breath Tests; D002648:Child; D002669:Child Welfare; D003545:Cysteine / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D005541:Forced Expiratory Volume / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007975:Leukotriene B4 / Q000378:metabolism*; D015289:Leukotrienes / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D009569:Nitric Oxide / Q000378:metabolism; D012119:Respiration / Q000187:drug effects; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D013259:Steroids, Fluorinated / Q000627:therapeutic use; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D006113:United Kingdom
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D015289:Leukotrienes; D013259:Steroids, Fluorinated; C112381:cysteinyl-leukotriene; D007975:Leukotriene B4; D009569:Nitric Oxide; D003545:Cysteine