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Original article| Volume 108, ISSUE 1, P60-69, July 1986

Comparison of cutaneous and bronchial reactivity to leukotriene D4 in humans

  • P.A. Greenberger
    Correspondence
    Reprint requests: Paul A. Greenberger, M.D., 303 E. Chicago Ave., Chicago, IL 60611.
    Affiliations
    From the Sections of Allergy-Immunology and Pulmonary Medicine, Department of Medicine, Northwestern University Medical School, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A.

    Stuart Pharmaceuticals, Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.
    Search for articles by this author
  • L.J. Smith
    Affiliations
    From the Sections of Allergy-Immunology and Pulmonary Medicine, Department of Medicine, Northwestern University Medical School, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A.

    Stuart Pharmaceuticals, Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.
    Search for articles by this author
  • Roy Patterson
    Affiliations
    From the Sections of Allergy-Immunology and Pulmonary Medicine, Department of Medicine, Northwestern University Medical School, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A.

    Stuart Pharmaceuticals, Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.
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  • R.D. Krell
    Affiliations
    From the Sections of Allergy-Immunology and Pulmonary Medicine, Department of Medicine, Northwestern University Medical School, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A.

    Stuart Pharmaceuticals, Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.
    Search for articles by this author
  • Mary Roberts
    Affiliations
    From the Sections of Allergy-Immunology and Pulmonary Medicine, Department of Medicine, Northwestern University Medical School, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A.

    Stuart Pharmaceuticals, Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.
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  • Kathleen E. Harris
    Affiliations
    From the Sections of Allergy-Immunology and Pulmonary Medicine, Department of Medicine, Northwestern University Medical School, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A.

    Stuart Pharmaceuticals, Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.
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  • Martha A. Shaughnessy
    Affiliations
    From the Sections of Allergy-Immunology and Pulmonary Medicine, Department of Medicine, Northwestern University Medical School, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A.

    Stuart Pharmaceuticals, Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.
    Search for articles by this author
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      Abstract

      To establish whether a relationship exists between cutaneous and bronchial reactivity to leukotriene D4 (LTD4), endpoint cutaneous reactivity and bronchial reactivity were determined in six patients with asthma, six patients with seasonal allergic rhinitis, and six nonatopic men. In all subjects, increasing doses of LTD4 produced decreases in specific airway conductance (SGaw) and flow at 30% of vital capacity measured from a partial forced expiratory maneuver (V30P). Intracutaneous injections of LTD4 and histamine resulted in immediate wheal and erythema reactions in all patients. Serial 10-fold dilutions of LTD4 and histamine were injected to establish the lowest dose capable of producing a 4 mm wheal with erythema. Endpoint cutaneous reactivity to LTD4 ranged from 1 μmol to 100 pmol in controls and from 100 nmol to 1 fmol in patients with asthma, but statistically significant differences between groups were not apparent even with inclusion of six additional subjects. No meaningful correlations were found between the quantity of LTD4 producing the threshold cutaneous reaction and the dose of inhaled LTD4 that produced a 35% decrease in SGaw and 30% decrease in V30P. In contrast to the bronchi, where subjects in all three groups were 264 to 840 times more sensitive to LTD4 than to methacholine, Math Eq subjects (Math Eq with asthma) were less sensitive to LTD4 than to histamine in terms of endpoint cutaneous reactivity. However, seven of 18 subjects who were more sensitive to LTD4 than to histamine had relative potencies ranging from 5 to 500,000.

      Abbreviations:

      LTD4 (leukotriene D4), SGaw (specific airway conductance), V30P (flow at 30% of vital capacity measured from a partial forced expiratory maneuver)
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