Nakamura T, Ishihara K, Kuriyama M, Miyamoto T, Matsumura Y
Department of Internal Medicine and Physical Therapy, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tokyo.
Arerugi. 1990 Jun;39(6):553-6.
Japanese cedar pollinosis is a typical allergic disease and has recently become a big social problem. Many population are suffering from this disease every year from the end of February to the beginning of April. In this study, we planned to examine the role of platelet-activating factor (PAF) in this disease, because PAF has been known to be one of the potent chemical mediators in allergic and inflammatory reactions and many evidences indicate that PAF is deeply involved in the pathogenesis of bronchial asthma, a typical allergic disease. We measured the concentrations of the PAF derivative (lyso-PAF) in serum from patients with cedar pollinosis during the pollen season. The level of lyso-PAF in serum from untreated patients with cedar pollinosis (87.8 +/- 8.7 unit.) was significantly higher than that in healthy control (54.9 +/- 7.7 unit.). We also tested the effect of an anti-allergic drug on the level of serum lyso-PAF of cedar pollinosis. Eighteen pairs of serum samples from patients with cedar pollinosis were employed in this study. Lyso-PAF levels after two weeks' therapy with ketotifen (2 mg/day), an anti-allergic drug, decreased the levels significantly (from 82.6 unit to 41.3 unit). These results suggest that PAF could play some important role in cedar pollinosis and that the clinical effect of anti-allergic drug could be partially due to the anti-PAF action.
日本柳杉花粉症是一种典型的过敏性疾病，近来已成为一个重大的社会问题。每年从2月底到4月初，许多人都饱受这种疾病的折磨。在本研究中，我们计划研究血小板活化因子（PAF）在这种疾病中的作用，因为已知PAF是过敏和炎症反应中一种强效的化学介质，而且许多证据表明PAF与典型过敏性疾病支气管哮喘的发病机制密切相关。我们测量了花粉季节期间日本柳杉花粉症患者血清中PAF衍生物（溶血PAF）的浓度。未经治疗的日本柳杉花粉症患者血清中的溶血PAF水平（87.8±8.7单位）显著高于健康对照组（54.9±7.7单位）。我们还测试了一种抗过敏药物对日本柳杉花粉症患者血清溶血PAF水平的影响。本研究采用了18对日本柳杉花粉症患者的血清样本。使用抗过敏药物酮替芬（2毫克/天）治疗两周后，溶血PAF水平显著降低（从82.6单位降至41.3单位）。这些结果表明，PAF可能在日本柳杉花粉症中起重要作用，并且抗过敏药物的临床效果可能部分归因于其抗PAF作用。
