Role of eosinophils in the airways of patients with atopic asthma. Relationship to mucus hypersecretion

A correlation between the proportion of eosinophils in bronochoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid and amount of expectoration was examined in patients with atopic asthma. The subjects were divided into two groups : cases with high proportion (20% of more) (group A) and low proportion (less than 5%) (group B) of eosinophils in the BAL fluid. Any significant difference was not paesent in the value of each ventilatory parameter between the two groups. The amount of expectoration/day was significantly higher in group A compared with group B (p<0.001). These results suggest that eosinophilia in BAL fluid correlates to mucus hypersecretion in the airways of patients with atopic asthma.

アトピー型気管支喘息のなかから,気管支肺胞洗浄液(BALF)中の好酸球の出現頻度が20%以上の症例(グループA)と5%以下の症例(グループB)の2群を選び出し,それぞれの換気機能および喀痰量を比較検討した｡その結果,換気機能には両群間に有意の差は見られなかったが,1日喀痰量は,BALF中好酸球の著明増多を示すグループAにおいて有意に多い傾向が見られた｡これらの結果は,BALF中好酸球増多と過分泌との間にはある程度の関連があることを示しているものと考えられた｡