Jatakanon A, Lim S, Kharitonov S A, Chung K F, Barnes P J
Department of Thoracic Medicine, National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College, London, UK.
Thorax. 1998 Feb;53(2):91-5. doi: 10.1136/thx.53.2.91.
Eosinophils in induced sputum and exhaled nitric oxide (NO) are currently used as non-invasive markers in the assessment of airway inflammation in asthma. As both sputum eosinophils (%) and exhaled NO are raised in asthmatic subjects not receiving inhaled steroids and decreased following corticosteroid therapy, a relationship between them is plausible.
Exhaled NO was measured by chemiluminescence analyser, sputum induction by 3.5% saline inhalation, and bronchial responsiveness was measured as PC20FEV1 methacholine in 35 stable asthmatic patients using beta 2 agonist alone and the correlation between these non-invasive markers of airway inflammation was studied.
There were significant correlations between exhaled NO and PC20 (r = -0.64), exhaled NO and sputum eosinophils (%) (r = 0.48), and also between sputum eosinophils (%) and PC20 (r = -0.40).
The correlation between exhaled NO and PC20 suggests that exhaled NO or the mechanisms leading to its increase may contribute to airway hyperresponsiveness in asthma. Furthermore, the relationship between sputum eosinophils (%), exhaled NO, and PC20 highlight the potential use of eosinophils (%) in induced sputum and exhaled NO to monitor the severity of asthma.
诱导痰中的嗜酸性粒细胞和呼出一氧化氮（NO）目前被用作评估哮喘气道炎症的非侵入性标志物。由于未接受吸入性类固醇治疗的哮喘患者痰嗜酸性粒细胞（%）和呼出NO均升高，而在皮质类固醇治疗后降低，因此它们之间存在关联是合理的。
通过化学发光分析仪测量呼出NO，通过吸入3.5%盐水诱导痰液，并在35例稳定期哮喘患者中使用单独的β2激动剂将支气管反应性测量为PC20FEV1乙酰甲胆碱，研究这些气道炎症非侵入性标志物之间的相关性。
呼出NO与PC20之间存在显著相关性（r = -0.64），呼出NO与痰嗜酸性粒细胞（%）之间存在显著相关性（r = 0.48），痰嗜酸性粒细胞（%）与PC20之间也存在显著相关性（r = -0.40）。
呼出NO与PC20之间的相关性表明，呼出NO或导致其增加的机制可能导致哮喘气道高反应性。此外，痰嗜酸性粒细胞（%）、呼出NO和PC20之间的关系突出了诱导痰中的嗜酸性粒细胞（%）和呼出NO在监测哮喘严重程度方面的潜在用途。
