Aizawa H, Iwanaga T, Inoue H, Takata S, Matsumoto K, Takahashi N, Yoshida M, Hara N
Clinical Research Institute, National Fukuoka-Higashi Hospital, Faculty of Medicine, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan.
Int Arch Allergy Immunol. 2000 Feb;121(2):123-8. doi: 10.1159/000024307.
Because eosinophilic airway inflammation is a characteristic feature of bronchial asthma, the treatment of airway inflammation is important in the management of asthma. Theophylline has been reported to reduce airway inflammation, in addition to its well-known bronchodilating effect.
In order to evaluate the effects of theophylline on airway inflammation, we investigated 48 subjects with mild and moderate asthma.
The patients were randomly divided into two groups, with or without theophylline treatment (control n = 24; theophylline, n = 24). We examined the level of serum eosinophil cationic protein (ECP), induced sputum samples, and peak expiratory flow (PEF) and obtained spirograms before and after 4 weeks of treatment with once-daily theophylline (200-600 mg/day) of subjects with mild or moderate asthma.
Theophylline significantly increased morning and evening PEF and significantly decreased the diurnal variation of PEF. After treatment with theophylline, both serum ECP and the percentage of eosinophils in induced sputum were significantly decreased. In contrast, peripheral blood eosinophil count was unchanged after treatment with theophylline.
These findings suggest that theophylline reduces airway inflammation and the severity of asthma, presumably via suppression of both eosinophil activity and subsequent eosinophil infiltration of the airways.
由于嗜酸性气道炎症是支气管哮喘的一个特征性表现，因此气道炎症的治疗在哮喘管理中很重要。据报道，除了其众所周知的支气管舒张作用外，茶碱还能减轻气道炎症。
为了评估茶碱对气道炎症的影响，我们对48例轻、中度哮喘患者进行了研究。
将患者随机分为两组，一组接受茶碱治疗，另一组不接受治疗（对照组n = 24；茶碱组，n = 24）。我们检测了血清嗜酸性粒细胞阳离子蛋白（ECP）水平、诱导痰样本、呼气峰值流速（PEF），并在轻、中度哮喘患者每日一次使用茶碱（200 - 600 mg/天）治疗4周前后获取了肺功能图。
茶碱显著提高了早晚的PEF，并显著降低了PEF的日变化率。使用茶碱治疗后，血清ECP和诱导痰中嗜酸性粒细胞百分比均显著降低。相比之下，使用茶碱治疗后外周血嗜酸性粒细胞计数没有变化。
这些发现表明，茶碱可能通过抑制嗜酸性粒细胞活性和随后嗜酸性粒细胞向气道的浸润来减轻气道炎症和哮喘的严重程度。
