Bronchial responsiveness to acetylcholine in patients with bronchial asthma after long-term treatment with gold salt.

Three groups of adult patients with bronchial asthma were subjected to long-term chrysotherapy (gold therapy), immunotherapy, or symptomatic therapy. Five of 14 patients who were treated with repeated injections of gold salt entered a symptom-free state that continued for more than 3 yr without the use of any bronchodilators or corticosteroids. In the other groups, there were no patients who entered such a state of long-term remission during the treatment. A statistically significant decrease in the bronchial responsiveness to inhaled acetylcholine was also observed in patients who received chrysotherapy. In the other groups, there were no significant differences between the bronchial responsiveness to acetylcholine that was estimated before the treatment and that measured after long-term treatment. Long-term chrysotherapy in the asthmatic patients did not reduce their serum level of total IgE. Gold salt, which is generally accepted as an antirheumatic drug, has also been used as an antiasthmatic drug by some Japanese practitioners despite the absence of evidence to support the therapeutic effect of the drug on asthma; the results of the study provide more information on the treatment of bronchial asthma with gold therapy.