Changes in exhaled breath condensate pH in healthy and asthmatic pregnant women.
OBJECTIVE
Asthma is a common chronic disease complicating pregnancy with a risk for perinatal complications. Control of airway inflammation in the asthmatic pregnancy improves pregnancy outcomes. Our aim was to evaluate pH of exhaled breath condensate (EBC), a non-invasive method for the assessment of asthmatic airway inflammation, in healthy and asthmatic pregnancies.


METHODS
Cross-sectional study.


METHODS
Hungarian university clinics.


METHODS
Seventeen healthy pregnant women, 21 asthmatic pregnant women, 23 healthy non-pregnant women and 22 asthmatic non-pregnant women.


METHODS
EBC samples were collected using a portable condenser, EBC pH was measured after argon deaeration.


METHODS
EBC pH.


RESULTS
EBC pH (mean ± SD) of healthy non-pregnant and asthmatic non-pregnant women was similar (7.75 ± 0.27 vs. 7.54 ± 0.57; p = 0.118), probably indicating an optimal control of airway inflammation in asthmatic women. On the other hand, EBC pH was higher in healthy pregnant women compared with healthy non-pregnant women (8.02 ± 0.43 vs. 7.75 ± 0.27; p = 0.017). Higher EBC pH accompanying healthy pregnancy was absent in asthmatic pregnant patients whose EBC pH was lower (7.65 ± 0.38) than that of healthy pregnant women (p = 0.006), and it was similar to that in asthmatic and healthy non-pregnant women (p = 0.470 and p = 0.300, respectively). The EBC pH in asthmatic pregnant women correlated positively with birthweight (r = 0.49, p = 0.047) and negatively with forced vital capacity (r = 0.45, p = 0.039). EBC pH was not related to blood pH.


CONCLUSIONS
EBC pH is higher in healthy pregnant women but not in asthmatic pregnant women compared with data from healthy non-pregnant women, indicating that oxidative inflammatory processes induced by asthma may compromise the regulatory mechanisms causing alkaline pH in the airways during pregnancy.
Department of Pulmonology, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary.
Noémi
N
Eszes
András
A
Bikov
Zsófia
Z
Lázár
Anikó
A
Bohács
Veronika
V
Müller
Balázs
B
Stenczer
János
J
Rigó
György
G
Losonczy
Ildikó
I
Horváth
Lilla
L
Tamási
D000328:Adult; D001249:Asthma / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001724:Birth Weight; D001944:Breath Tests; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D045853:Exhalation / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D007249:Inflammation / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications; D014797:Vital Capacity; D055815:Young Adult