Abstract
Background: Allergic rhinitis is a known predictor and correlate of asthma incidence. However, it is not clear which patients with allergic rhinitis are at greater risk of the development of asthma. Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate whether airway hypersensitivity and/or increased maximal response on the dose-response curve to methacholine would predict the development of asthma in subjects with allergic rhinitis. Methods: One hundred and forty-one children with allergic rhinitis were prospectively studied for 7 years. At the initiation of the study, bronchial provocation test with methacholine using a stepwise increasing concentration technique was performed to measure PC20 (provocative concentration causing a 20% fall in FEV1 and maximal response. Each subject was evaluated at least every 6 months and details of asthmatic symptoms or signs experienced during the intervening period were taken. Results: Twenty of 122 subjects available for the follow-up developed asthma. Nine (19.6%) of 46 hypersensitive (PC20 < 18 mg/mL) subjects developed asthma, compared with 11 (14.5%) of 76 normosensitive subjects (P = 0.462). Eight (32%) of 25 subjects without maximal response plateau developed asthma, compared with 12 (12.4%) of 97 subjects with maximal response plateau (P = 0.018). Score test for trend revealed a significant association between the level of maximal response (P = 0.007), but not the degree of methacholine PC20 (P = 0.123), and the future development of asthma. Conclusion: An increased maximal airway response to methacholine is shown to be a better predictor for the future development of asthma in patients with allergic rhinitis, than airway hypersensitivity to methacholine.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 921-927 |
Number of pages | 7 |
Journal | Clinical and Experimental Allergy |
Volume | 32 |
Issue number | 6 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 2002 |
Keywords
- Airway hyper-responsiveness
- Allergic rhinitis
- Asthma
- Maximal airway response
- Methacholine
- PC