PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - JC Celedon AU - FE Speizer AU - JM Drazen AU - ST Weiss AU - EJ Campbell AU - VJ Carey AU - JJ Reilly AU - L Ginns AU - EK Silverman TI - Bronchodilator responsiveness and serum total IgE levels in families of probands with severe early-onset COPD AID - 10.1183/09031936.99.14510099 DP - 1999 Nov 01 TA - European Respiratory Journal PG - 1009--1014 VI - 14 IP - 5 4099 - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/14/5/1009.short 4100 - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/14/5/1009.full SO - Eur Respir J1999 Nov 01; 14 AB - Bronchodilator responsiveness has been associated with a subsequent accelerated decline in forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1). Therefore, bronchodilator responsiveness and total serum immunoglobulin E(IgE) levels were assessed in 184 adult first-degree relatives of probands with severe early-onset chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and a control group. Greater bronchodilator responsiveness was found among current smokers or exsmokers who were first-degree relatives of early-onset COPD probands than in currently or exsmoking controls, expressed as increase in FEV1 as a percentage of baseline (5.8+/-8.1 versus 2.9+/-5.1%, p<0.01), absolute increase in FEV1 from baseline (120+/-130 versus 60+/-110 mL, p<0.05), and increase in FEV1 as a percentage of the predicted value (3.6:4.1 versus 2.2+/-3.9%, p<0.05). However, elevated total serum IgE levels were not found in first-degree relatives of early-onset COPD probands compared with control subjects. The increased bronchodilator responsiveness among currently smoking/exsmoking first-degree relatives of early-onset COPD probands suggests that these individuals may have enhanced susceptibility to the detrimental effects of cigarette smoking.