Background: Increased concentrations of exhaled nitric oxide (NO) correlate
with increased airway inflammation and measurement of exhaled NO is a noni
nvasive method for the management of bronchial asthma. in various cardiac d
iseases, bronchial hyperresponsiveness is observed, as is bronchial asthma.
However, there have been few studies on the relationship between exhaled N
O and bronchial responsiveness in cardiac diseases. Objective: The aim of t
his study was to clarify the association between exhaled NO and bronchial h
yperresponsiveness in patients with cardiac disease, Methods: We measured e
xpired NO and bronchial responsiveness to inhaled methacholine in 19 patien
ts with cardiac diseases and 17 with bronchial asthma. We divided the cardi
ac disease patients into two groups according to their bronchial responsive
ness to inhaled methacholine: BHR(+) group consisted of 12 patients with br
onchial hyperresponsiveness and BHR(-) group consisted of 7 patients withou
t bronchial hyperresponsiveness. Resuits: The concentration of exhaled NO i
n the asthmatic patients was significantly higher than that in the BHR(+) a
nd BHR(-) groups (142.0 +/- 17.0, 33.6 +/- 6.4 and 42.3 +/- 10.3 ppb, respe
ctively, p < 0.01). There was no significant difference in exhaled NO betwe
en BHR(+) and BHR(-) groups. There were also no significant differences in
the parameters of bronchial hyperresponsiveness between the cardiac BHR(+)
and bronchial asthma groups. These results indicate that bronchial hyperres
ponsiveness in patients with cardiac diseases is not a consequence of eosin
ophilic inflammation or of exhaled NO. Conclusion: We conclude that bronchi
al hyperresponsiveness in patients with cardiac diseases can occur independ
ently of NO production. Copyright(C)2001 S. Karger AG,Basel.