Does the expired-air carbon monoxide level reflect the severity of inflammation in COPD?
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study is to evaluate the expired-air carbon monoxide level which relates to the severity of inflammation in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).


METHODS
Cross sectional study.


METHODS
Cukurova University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Chest Disease, Out-patient clinic.


METHODS
The characteristics of patients enrolled in this study were following; 20 ex-smokers with stable COPD (mean age: 68.8 +/- 7.2 years, FEV1: 45.6 +/- 16.6% of predicted), 22 current smokers with stable COPD (mean age: 58.7 +/- 8.2 years, FEVI: 57.5 +/- 20.9% of predicted), 20 healthy smokers (mean age: 55.916.0 years, FEVI: 86.7 +/- 14.2% of predicted), and 20 healthy non-smokers (mean age: 60.8 +/- 9.2 years, FEV1: 95.3 +/- 13.5% of predicted).


METHODS
CO level was measured in expired-air. MEAAUREMENT AND RESULTS: The measurement of expired-air CO level was measured by DisCOver, carbon monoxide analyser. It is known that the level of expired-air carbon monoxide in healthy smokers (11.8 +/- 6.4 ppm) and in current smokers with COPD (11.1 +/- 7.4 ppm) is higher than in healthy non-smokers (1.7:0.7 ppm) and in ex-smokers with COPD (2.0 +/- 1.8 ppm) (p = 0.0001).


CONCLUSIONS
We assumed that the level of expired-air carbon monoxide may not useful in assessing the severity of inflammation in COPD (Tab. 1, Fig. 2, Ref. 23).
Hanta
I
I
Department of Chest Diseases, Cukurova University, School of Medicine, Balcali-Adana, Turkey. ihanta@cu.edu.tr
Kocabas
A
A
Olgunus
O
O
Satar
S
S
Seydaoglu
G
G
D000368:Aged; D001944:Breath Tests; D002248:Carbon Monoxide / Q000032:analysis*; D005260:Female; D005541:Forced Expiratory Volume; D006801:Humans; D007249:Inflammation; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology
D002248:Carbon Monoxide