Chonnam Med J.  2002 Jun;38(2):154-160.

Differences of Ventilatory Function Measurements between Natural and Methacholine or Histamine-induced Bronchoconstriction in Asthma

• Hong SN
• Choi IS
• Na HJ

Abstract

Methacholine or histamine bronchial provocation test has been widely used to diagnose asthma. To examine whether the sites of bronchoconstriction induced artificially by nonspecific stimuli are similar with those in natural asthma, central and peripheral lung function measurements were compared between them. MMFRs were significantly related to, but lower than FEV1s in all of the three groups {natural (n=15), methacholine (n=22), histamine (n=11)} (p<0.01, respectively). And MMFR/FEV1 was significantly related to FEV1 (p<0.05). Methacholine group, but not histamine group showed significantly higher MMFR/FEV1 compared with natural group (p<0.05). However, the degree of reduction in lung function was significantly greater in histamine group than in methacholine group (p<0.05), and % MMFR/% FEV1 was not significantly different between both groups. These results suggest that the principal site of bron- choconstriction induced by methacholine is more central than natural asthma. Although histamine-induced bronchoconstriction was not significantly different from the natural, the bronchoconstriction site seems to be more influenced by the severity or the acuteness of constriction than by the difference in the receptor distribution.

Keyword

Asthma; Methacholine; Histamine; Bronchoconstriction

MeSH Terms

Asthma*
Bronchial Provocation Tests
Bronchoconstriction*
Constriction
Histamine
Lung
Maximal Midexpiratory Flow Rate
Methacholine Chloride*
Histamine
Methacholine Chloride