title: Leukotriene-B4 concentrations in exhaled breath condensate and lung function after thirty minutes of breathing technically dried compressed air.
abstract: In previous studies it had been shown that leukotriene-B4 [LTB4] concentrations in the exhaled breath mirror the inflammatory activity of the airways if the respiratory tract has been exposed to occupational hazards. In diving the respiratory tract is exposed to cold and dry air and the nasopharynx, as the site of breathing-gas warming and humidification, is bypassed. The aim of the present study was to obtain LTB4-concentrations in the exhaled breath and spirometric data of 17 healthy subjects before and after thirty minutes of technically dried air breathing at normobar ambient pressure. The exhaled breath was collected non-invasively, via a permanently cooled expiration tube. The condensate was measured by a standard enzyme immunoassay for LTB4. Lung function values (FVC, FEV1, MEF 25, MEF 50) were simultaneously obtained by spirometry. The measured pre- and post-exposure LTB4- concentrations as well as the lung function values were in the normal range. The present data gave no evidence for any inflammatory activity in the subjects' airways after thirty minutes breathing technically dried air.
authors.affiliation: German Naval Medical Institute, D-24119 Kronshagen. Birger.Neubauer@bug.hamburg.de
authors.forename: Birger
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Neubauer
authors.forename: Niclas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Struck
authors.forename: Till S
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Mutzbauer
authors.forename: Ulrich
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Schotte
authors.forename: Norbert
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Langfeldt
authors.forename: Kay
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tetzlaff
mesh_terms: D000388:Air; D001944:Breath Tests / Q000379:methods; D004242:Diving; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D006801:Humans; D006813:Humidity; D007249:Inflammation / Q000175:diagnosis*; D007975:Leukotriene B4 / Q000378:metabolism*; D008173:Lung Diseases, Obstructive / Q000175:diagnosis*; D008297:Male; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D012016:Reference Values; D012129:Respiratory Function Tests; D013147:Spirometry
chemical_list: D007975:Leukotriene B4