Le Jeunne C, Biour M, Lowenstein W, Hugues F C, Cheymol C
Service de Médecine interne II, Hôpital Laënnec, Paris.
Rev Mal Respir. 1988;5(6):645-7.
Cough is a well recognised though undesirable side effect during the course of treatment with angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors (IEC). With the help of two examples we have tried to show that this cough does not have an immunological origin but rather pharmacological. Cough was suppressed by non steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Stemming from these observations and from two studies in the literature a patho-physiological mechanism for the cough is proposed in which treatment with IEC leads to a connection with prostaglandins, notably bronchial PGE2.