Adenosine monophosphate is not superior to histamine for bronchial provocation test for assessment of asthma control and symptoms.
BACKGROUND
Adenosine monophosphate (AMP) may reflect airway inflammation and hyperresponsiveness, but relationship between AMP and histamine (His, a conventional stimulus) bronchial provocation test (BPT) in asthma is not fully elucidated.


OBJECTIVES
To compare both BPTs and determine their utility in reflecting changes of asthmatic symptoms.


METHODS
BPTs were performed in a cross-over fashion, at 2-4 day intervals. Cumulative doses eliciting 20% FEV1 fall (PD20 FEV1 ), diagnostic performance and adverse events (AEs) were compared. Patients with PD20 FEV1 lower than geometric mean were defined as responders, otherwise poor responders. Patients with uncontrolled and partly controlled asthma, who maintained their original inhaled corticosteroids therapy, underwent reassessment of airway responsiveness and asthmatic symptoms 3 and 6 months after.


RESULTS
Nineteen uncontrolled, 22 partly controlled and 19 controlled asthmatic patients and 24 healthy subjects were recruited. Lower PD20 FEV1 geometric means were associated with poorer asthma control in His-BPT (0.424 μmol vs 1.684 μmol vs 3.757 μmol), but not AMP-BPT (11.810 μmol vs 7.781 μmol vs 10.220 μmol). Both BPTs yielded similar overall diagnostic performance in asthma (area under curve: 0.842 in AMP-BPT vs 0.850 in His-BPT). AEs, including wheezing and tachypnea, were similar and mild. Ten patients with uncontrolled and 10 partly controlled asthma were followed-up. At months 3 and 6, we documented an increase in PD20 FEV1 -AMP and PD20 FEV1 -His, which did not correlate with reduction asthmatic symptom scores. This overall applied in responders and poor responders of AMP-BPT and His-BPT.


CONCLUSION
Despite higher screening capacity of well-controlled asthma, AMP-BPT confers similar diagnostic performance and safety with His-BPT. AMP-BPT might not preferentially reflect changes asthmatic symptoms.
['Wu|Fan|F|', 'Guan|Wei-Jie|WJ|', 'Gao|Yi|Y|', 'An|Jia-Ying|JY|', 'Xie|Yan-Qing|YQ|', 'Liu|Wen-Ting|WT|', 'Yu|Xin-Xin|XX|', 'Zheng|Jin-Ping|JP|']
D000249:Adenosine Monophosphate D000280:Administration, Inhalation D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones D000328:Adult D001249:Asthma D016535:Bronchial Hyperreactivity D001985:Bronchial Provocation Tests D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies D005260:Female D005541:Forced Expiratory Volume D006632:Histamine D006801:Humans D008297:Male D008875:Middle Aged
adenosine monophosphate - asthma - bronchial provocation test - histamine - responder