Lei Liu1, W Gerald Teague2, Serpil Erzurum3, Anne Fitzpatrick2, Sneha Mantri4, Raed A Dweik3, Eugene R Bleecker5, Deborah Meyers5, William W Busse6, William J Calhoun7, Mario Castro8, Kian Fan Chung9, Douglas Curran-Everett10, Elliot Israel11, W Nizar Jarjour6, Wendy Moore5, Stephen P Peters5, Sally Wenzel12, John F Hunt4, Benjamin Gaston13. 1. Department of Public Health Sciences at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA. 2. Department of Pediatrics, Emory University, Atlanta, GA. 3. Department of Pathobiology, the Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH; Department of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine, the Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH. 4. Department of Pediatrics, Charlottesville, VA. 5. Department of Medicine, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC. 6. Department of Medicine, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI. 7. Department of Medicine, University of Texas, Galveston, TX. 8. Department of Medicine, Washington University, St. Louis, MO. 9. Imperial College, London, England. 10. National Jewish Hospital, Denver, CO. 11. Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA. 12. University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA. 13. Department of Pediatrics, Charlottesville, VA. Electronic address: Bmg3g@virginia.edu.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Exhaled breath condensate (EBC) pH is 2 log orders below normal during acute asthma exacerbations and returns to normal with antiinflammatory therapy. However, the determinants of EBC pH, particularly in stable asthma, are poorly understood. We hypothesized that patients with severe asthma would have low EBC pH and that there would be an asthma subpopulation of patients with characteristically low values. METHODS: We studied the association of EBC pH with clinical characteristics in 572 stable subjects enrolled in the Severe Asthma Research Program. These included 250 subjects with severe asthma, 291 with nonsevere asthma, and 31 healthy control subjects. RESULTS: Overall, EBC in this population of stable, treated study subjects was not lower in severe asthma (8.02; interquartile range [IQR], 7.61-8.41) or nonsevere asthma (7.90; IQR, 7.52-8.20) than in control subjects (7.9; IQR, 7.40-8.20). However, in subjects with asthma the data clustered below and above pH 6.5. Subjects in the subpopulation with pH < 6.5 had lower fraction of exhaled NO (FeNO) values (FeNO = 22.6 ± 18.1 parts per billion) than those with pH ≥ 6.5 (39.9 ± 40.2 parts per billion; P < .0001). By multiple linear regression, low EBC pH was associated with high BMI, high BAL neutrophil counts, low prebronchodilator FEV(1) ratio, high allergy symptoms, race other than white, and gastroesophageal reflux symptoms. CONCLUSION: Asthma is a complex syndrome. Subjects who are not experiencing an exacerbation but have low EBC pH appear to be a unique subpopulation.
BACKGROUND: Exhaled breath condensate (EBC) pH is 2 log orders below normal during acute asthma exacerbations and returns to normal with antiinflammatory therapy. However, the determinants of EBC pH, particularly in stable asthma, are poorly understood. We hypothesized that patients with severe asthma would have low EBC pH and that there would be an asthma subpopulation of patients with characteristically low values. METHODS: We studied the association of EBC pH with clinical characteristics in 572 stable subjects enrolled in the Severe Asthma Research Program. These included 250 subjects with severe asthma, 291 with nonsevere asthma, and 31 healthy control subjects. RESULTS: Overall, EBC in this population of stable, treated study subjects was not lower in severe asthma (8.02; interquartile range [IQR], 7.61-8.41) or nonsevere asthma (7.90; IQR, 7.52-8.20) than in control subjects (7.9; IQR, 7.40-8.20). However, in subjects with asthma the data clustered below and above pH 6.5. Subjects in the subpopulation with pH < 6.5 had lower fraction of exhaled NO (FeNO) values (FeNO = 22.6 ± 18.1 parts per billion) than those with pH ≥ 6.5 (39.9 ± 40.2 parts per billion; P < .0001). By multiple linear regression, low EBC pH was associated with high BMI, high BAL neutrophil counts, low prebronchodilator FEV(1) ratio, high allergy symptoms, race other than white, and gastroesophageal reflux symptoms. CONCLUSION: Asthma is a complex syndrome. Subjects who are not experiencing an exacerbation but have low EBC pH appear to be a unique subpopulation.
Authors: Silvia Carraro; Joseph Doherty; Khalequz Zaman; Iain Gainov; Ronald Turner; John Vaughan; John F Hunt; Javier Márquez; Benjamin Gaston Journal: Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol Date: 2006-05 Impact factor: 5.464
Authors: Sang Sun Yoon; Ray Coakley; Gee W Lau; Sergei V Lymar; Benjamin Gaston; Ahmet C Karabulut; Robert F Hennigan; Sung-Hei Hwang; Garry Buettner; Michael J Schurr; Joel E Mortensen; Jane L Burns; David Speert; Richard C Boucher; Daniel J Hassett Journal: J Clin Invest Date: 2006-01-26 Impact factor: 14.808
Authors: David W Hauswirth; John S Sundy; Sabrena Mervin-Blake; Carolyn A Fernandez; Kistie B Patch; Katie M Alexander; Sallie Allgood; Patrice D McNair; Marc C Levesque Journal: J Allergy Clin Immunol Date: 2008-05-12 Impact factor: 10.793
Authors: John Hunt; Yuanlin Yu; James Burns; Benjamin Gaston; Lina Ngamtrakulpanit; Dorothy Bunyan; Brian K Walsh; Alison Smith; Stephanie Hom Journal: Cough Date: 2006-04-11
Authors: H Saxena; D A Deshpande; B C Tiegs; H Yan; R J Battafarano; W M Burrows; G Damera; R A Panettieri; T D Dubose; S S An; R B Penn Journal: Br J Pharmacol Date: 2012-06 Impact factor: 8.739
Authors: Richard M Effros; Richard Casaburi; Janos Porszasz; Edith M Morales; Virender Rehan Journal: Am J Respir Crit Care Med Date: 2012-04-15 Impact factor: 21.405
Authors: Stanley J Szefler; James F Chmiel; Anne M Fitzpatrick; George Giacoia; Thomas P Green; Daniel J Jackson; Heber C Nielsen; Wanda Phipatanakul; Hengameh H Raissy Journal: J Allergy Clin Immunol Date: 2013-11-28 Impact factor: 10.793
Authors: Fernando Holguin; Suzy A A Comhair; Stanley L Hazen; Robert W Powers; Sumita S Khatri; Eugene R Bleecker; William W Busse; William J Calhoun; Mario Castro; Anne M Fitzpatrick; Benjamin Gaston; Elliot Israel; Nizar N Jarjour; Wendy C Moore; Stephen P Peters; W Gerald Teague; Kian Fan Chung; Serpil C Erzurum; Sally E Wenzel Journal: Am J Respir Crit Care Med Date: 2012-11-29 Impact factor: 21.405
Authors: Anne M Fitzpatrick; Janet T Holbrook; Christine Y Wei; Meredith S Brown; Robert A Wise; W Gerald Teague Journal: J Allergy Clin Immunol Pract Date: 2014-05-21