Effect of procaterol, a beta(2) selective adrenergic receptor agonist, on airway inflammation and hyperresponsiveness.
BACKGROUND
beta-agonists are frequently used as bronchodilators for asthma as not only a reliever but also a controller, and their utility has increased with the development of long-acting beta(2) selective drugs. Although anti-inflammatory effects of beta(2) selective-agonists have been reported in vitro, side effects on augmentation of airway hyperresponsiveness by chronic use of beta(2) selective-agonists have been described in several reports. In this study, we investigated the effects of procaterol, a second-generation beta(2)-agonist, on airway inflammation in vivo using an antigen-specific murine model of asthma.


METHODS
Mice immunized with ovalbumin (OVA) + alum and challenged with inhaled ovalbumin were orally administered procaterol during the challenge. After inhalation, the mice were tracheostomized and placed in a body box under controlled ventilation to measure airway resistance before and after acetylcholine inhalation.


RESULTS
Administration of procaterol at a clinical dose equivalent did not augment airway hyperresponsiveness, inflammation of the airway wall, or subsequent airway wall thickening induced by OVA inhalation. BALF cell analysis revealed that the eosinophil number in the BALF was significantly reduced in procaterol-treated mice compared to untreated mice.


CONCLUSIONS
Oral administration of procaterol at a clinical dose did not augment airway responsiveness, but did reduce eosinophil inflammation.
Tashimo
Hiroyuki
H
Department of Medicine, Teikyo University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
Yamashita
Naomi
N
Ishida
Hirofumi
H
Nagase
Hiroyuki
H
Adachi
Tetsuya
T
Nakano
Junichi
J
Yamamura
Koichi
K
Yano
Tomoko
T
Yoshihara
Hisanao
H
Ohta
Ken
K
D000318:Adrenergic beta-Agonists / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000403:Airway Resistance / Q000187:drug effects*; D000818:Animals; D001249:Asthma / Q000188:drug therapy*; D016535:Bronchial Hyperreactivity / Q000188:drug therapy; D001992:Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid / Q000276:immunology; D016084:Bronchoconstriction / Q000187:drug effects*; D016207:Cytokines / Q000187:drug effects; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005260:Female; D007249:Inflammation / Q000188:drug therapy; D051379:Mice; D017265:Procaterol / Q000494:pharmacology*
D000318:Adrenergic beta-Agonists; D016207:Cytokines; D017265:Procaterol