Abstract
Background: Measurements of airway responsiveness are frequently used to evaluate anti-asthma drugs.
Objective: This study investigated the utility of methacholine airway responsiveness measurements in evaluating anti-asthma medications, both in terms of a bronchoprotective effect and the ability to attenuate allergen-induced methacholine airway hyperresponsiveness.
Methods: Methacholine airway responsiveness was measured as PC20 on two occasions (separated by 35 +/- 17 days, mean +/- SD) in 40 subjects with mild, stable asthma. Additional subjects had PC20 measurements made before and af ter administration of either inhaled salbutamol (200 mu g) (n = 20) or allergen inhalation challenge (n = 31).
Results: The reproducibility of the methacholine PC20 with this method was high (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.94), The average shift in PC20 after salbutamol was 4.11 doubling concentrations (SD = 1.08). On the basis of these results, a sample size of 12 subjects would be required to demonstrate a 1 doubling concentration difference in the bronchoprotective effect of two drugs with a 90% power. The average shift in PC20 after allergen was 1.29 doubling concentrations. On the basis of these results sind an estimated SD of 0.96, a sample size of 24 subjects would be required to demonstrate that a drug is effective in attenuating 50% of allergen-induced airway hyperresponsiveness with a 90% power:
Conclusion: These results confirm the high reproducibility of methacholine PC20 measurements in subjects with mild, stable asthma and demonstrate its utility in evaluating the effects of anti-asthma drugs.
Original language | English |
---|---|
Pages (from-to) | 342-348 |
Number of pages | 7 |
Journal | Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology |
Volume | 101 |
Issue number | 3 |
Publication status | Published - Mar-1998 |
Keywords
- airway responsiveness
- asthma
- reproducibility
- bronchoprotection
- allergen
- ALLERGEN-INDUCED INCREASE
- INDUCED BRONCHOCONSTRICTION
- BRONCHIAL RESPONSIVENESS
- SODIUM CROMOGLYCATE
- INHALED SALBUTAMOL
- MILD ASTHMA
- RESPONSES
- HISTAMINE
- REPRODUCIBILITY
- REACTIVITY