Effect on airways resistance of prostaglandin E1 given by aerosol to healthy and asthmatic volunteers.

The forced expiratory volume in one second (F.E.V.(1)) was measured in healthy and asthmatic volunteers and the inhalation of prostaglandin E(1) (PGE(1)) was compared with that of isoprenaline, using metered aerosols.In healthy volunteers PGE(1), either as the free acid or the neutral triethanolamine salt, did not affect the F.E.V.(1); the free acid was irritant to the upper respiratory tract. In five out of six asthmatic volunteers with reversible airways obstruction, inhalation of 55 mug of PGE(1) (triethanolamine salt) produced an increase in F.E.V.(1) comparable in both degree and duration to that produced by an inhalation of 550 mug. of isoprenaline sulphate.Though the triethanolamine salt was well tolerated in most of the asthmatic subjects studied, in one asthmatic subject this preparation caused coughing and there was a progressive reduction in the F.E.V.(1) associated with bronchospasm.