TY - JOUR T1 - Regular salbutamol use increases CXCL8 responses in asthma: relationship to the eosinophil response JF - European Respiratory Journal JO - Eur Respir J SP - 118 LP - 126 DO - 10.1183/09031936.03.00031102 VL - 22 IS - 1 AU - J.R. Gordon AU - V.A. Swystun AU - F. Li AU - X. Zhang AU - B.E. Davis AU - P. Hull AU - D.W. Cockcroft Y1 - 2003/07/01 UR - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/22/1/118.abstract N2 - Regular salbutamol use can exacerbate allergen-induced airway eosinophilia in asthmatics, but its effect on airway eosinophil chemokine responses is unknown. Asthmatic subjects (n=14) were treated for 10 days with placebo or salbutamol in a double-blind, cross-over study, then given same-dose allergen challenges. Their sputa were then analysed 1 and 7 h later for a panel of eosinophil-related cytokines. Eosinophils from five test and three control subjects were tested for expression of CXCL8/interleukin (IL)‐8, and its receptors and responsiveness to CCL11/eotaxin and CXCL8/IL‐8. Sputum CXCL8/IL‐8, but not IL‐5, CCL5/regulated on activation, T‐cell expressed and secreted, CCL7/monocyte chemotactic protein‐3, CCL11/eotaxin, granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor or tumour necrosis factor levels, were increased (42%) by the salbutamol treatments. The CXCL8/IL‐8 levels correlated with the proportions of sputum eosinophils and these cells, but not other sputum cells, stained strongly for CXCL8/IL‐8. The circulating eosinophils of the tested subjects (n=5) expressed CXCL8/IL‐8 receptors and secreted high levels of this chemokine. Neutralisation of sputum CXCL8/IL‐8 reduced eosinophil chemotactic responses to these samples by 19±5%. These data suggest that regular use of salbutamol can augment airway CXCL8/interleukin‐8 responses to allergen challenge and that this CXCL8/interleukin‐8 could contribute to the airway inflammatory response. This work was supported by grants from the Saskatchewan Lung Association and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. ER -