Brief CommunicationsBasic fibroblast growth factor in asthma: Measurement in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid basally and following allergen challenge☆
Section snippets
Subjects
For basal measurements, we studied 7 mildly symptomatic subjects with atopic asthma (all men, aged 22.3 ± 1.0 years) and 8 control subjects without asthma (1 man and 7 women, aged 30.9 ± 5.0 years, 2 atopic). The subjects with asthma were all treated with short-acting β2-agonists as required, but none had received oral or inhaled corticosteroids for at least 3 months. Control subjects were taking no regular medication. To examine bFGF release, we performed segmental allergen bronchoprovocation
Subject comparisons
Control subjects and subjects with asthma undergoing basal measurements did not differ significantly in age (P = .11), but FEV1% measurements were significantly lower for the subjects with asthma (85.2% ± 3.9% vs 103.6% ± 2.9%, P = .002). The subjects with asthma in this part of the study had varying degrees of airway hyperreactivity (geometric mean PC20 [provocative concentration of agonist producing a 20% fall in FEV1] methacholine, 0.88 mg/mL; range, 0.31-8.34 mg/mL), whereas the control
Discussion
In this study we have shown that basal levels of bFGF in BAL fluid are increased in atopic asthma and that a further increase occurs in response to allergen exposure. To our knowledge this report represents the first description of the in vivo expression of this growth factor in asthma.
One potential explanation for the rapid rise in BAL fluid bFGF after segmental allergen challenge would be release of the growth factor from mast cells. The immediate airway response to allergen is considered to
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Reprint requests: A. E. Redington, MD, Department of Respiratory Medicine, 2nd Floor, Thomas Guy House, Guy's Hospital, London SE1 9RT, England, UK.