Talini D, Novelli F, Bacci E, Dente F L, De Santis M, Di Franco A, Melosini L, Vagaggini B, Paggiaro P L
Occupational Health Unit, Prevention Department, Galleria Gerace 14, 56126 Pisa, Italy.
J Allergy (Cairo). 2011;2011:781470. doi: 10.1155/2011/781470. Epub 2011 May 25.
Occupational asthma (OA) is a heterogeneous disease, and the characteristics of the sensitizer responsible for OA may induce different clinical, functional, and biological manifestations. We examined the characteristics of 74 patients with OA induced by low molecular weight compounds (LMWC) or by high molecular weight compounds (HMWC) and diagnosed by specific inhalation challenge (SIC). Patients with OA induced by LMWC had a longer occupational exposure before the beginning of symptoms, a lower sputum eosinophilia, and a higher prevalence of late airway response (LAR), in comparison with patients with OA induced by HMWC. Pulmonary function tended to be poorer and atopy tended to be less frequent in LMWC-induced OA than in HMWC-induced OA. These data confirm and extend previous observations showing that the characteristics of the specific sensitizer inducing OA may determine different clinical, functional, and biological features, probably related to the difference pathogenetic mechanisms underlying these different types of OA.
职业性哮喘（OA）是一种异质性疾病，引发OA的致敏原特性可能会导致不同的临床、功能和生物学表现。我们研究了74例由低分子量化合物（LMWC）或高分子量化合物（HMWC）诱发并经特异性吸入激发试验（SIC）确诊的OA患者的特征。与HMWC诱发的OA患者相比，LMWC诱发的OA患者在症状出现前有更长的职业暴露时间、更低的痰液嗜酸性粒细胞增多以及更高的迟发性气道反应（LAR）患病率。与HMWC诱发的OA相比，LMWC诱发的OA患者肺功能往往较差，特应性往往较少见。这些数据证实并扩展了先前的观察结果，表明诱发OA的特异性致敏原特性可能决定不同的临床、功能和生物学特征，这可能与这些不同类型OA潜在的发病机制差异有关。
