Bronchial hyperreactivity and immunoglobulin E in Behçet's disease.

Behçet's disease in a multisystem panvasculitis of unknown etiology. Pulmonary manifestations are rare, and there is no specific test to establish the inflammation for the precise differentiation between the active and inactive cases. Bronchial hyperreactivity (BHR) measured by methacholine challenge test and serum total IgE concentrations were investigated in 31 patients who were followed at Behçet's Center in hospital clinic and ten healthy controls. The patients studied had no evidence of neither any pulmonary disease-both allergic and nonallergic-nor family history of atopy. In 14 patients (45.16%) with active lesions mean IgE levels were higher than inactive group, 156.43 +/- 381.14 kU/L and 94.42 +/- 147.55 kU/L respectively (p > 0.05). We found high total IgE levels in eight patients (25.81%) with BD, though they were unrelated to disease activity. In our study, BHR related with Behçet's chronicity were also found to be positive in eight patients (25.81%). Mean time elapsed since the first diagnosis of the disease in patients with positive BHR was (11.13 +/- 3.72 years) significantly longer than inactive group (7.10 +/- 4.49 years) (p < 0.05). No correlation was found between BHR and serum IgE levels in patients with clinical symptoms. Therefore, we suggest that BHR may probably reflects nonspecific inflammation which is seen in BD, but cannot be regarded as a specific marker.