RESEARCH ARTICLE


Differences in Exhaled Nitric Oxide in Non- and Mono- or Polysensitised Allergic Children with Asthma Bronchiale



Leonie Korsch, Annette Hombach, Clivia Schnegg, Michael Weiss, Eckhard Korsch*
Kinderkrankenhaus der Stadt Köln, Kliniken der Stadt Köln GmbH, Amsterdamer Strasse 59, D-50735 Köln, Germany.

Article Information


Identifiers and Pagination:

Year: 2008
Volume: 2
First Page: 30
Last Page: 34
Publisher Id: TOPEDJ-2-30
DOI: 10.2174/1874309900802010030

Article History:

Received Date: 07/04/2008
Revision Received Date: 30/04/2008
Acceptance Date: 07/06/2008
Electronic publication date: 23/6/2008
Collection year: 2008

© 2008 Korsch et al.

open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0), a copy of which is available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

* Address correspondence to this author at the Kinderkrankenhaus der Stadt Köln, Kliniken der Stadt Köln GmbH, Amsterdamer Strasse 59, D-50735 Köln, Germany; Tel: +49-221-890715596; Fax: +49-221-89075330; E-mail: e.korsch@uni-koeln.de


Abstract

Rationale:

Exhaled nitric oxide (eNO) is reported to be increased in the airways of patients with asthma bronchiale.

Objectives:

To investigate eNO concentration and lung function in non-, mono- and polysensitised children with mild asthma bronchiale before and after exercise challenge.

Findings:

Investigation of a total of 59 children (49 mono- or polysensitised, 10 nonsensitised). No significant differences regarding age, gender, height and asthma medication. Significant difference between the groups regarding weight and subsequently BMI. ENO levels were only elevated in allergic asthmatic children (mean 37.0 ppb) compared to the non allergic children (mean 10.0 ppb, p < 0.0001). A correlation between eNO concentrations and the residual volume was established. ENO levels after exercise challenge were only slightly lower than before exercise.

Conclusion:

Elevated levels of eNO were only found in the group of asthmatic children with an allergic background. Therefore eNO can be used as a marker to differentiate between allergic and non allergic asthma. Asthmatic severity or therapy did not have a significant influence on the eNO levels. In patients with allergic asthma bronchiale eNO may be used as a helpful indicator in the adapting anti-inflammatory treatment. Although statistically significant in allergic children, the influence of exercise challenge on eNO levels is minimal.