Association of hormone replacement therapy with bronchial hyper-responsiveness
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Updated: Sep 20, 2026

Bronchial Thermoplasty: A Novel Therapeutic Approach to Severe Asthma
Published on: November 4, 2010
Judith E Mueller1, Christian Frye, Sabine Brasche
1Institute of Epidemiology, GSF-National Research Centre for Environment and Health, Ingolstädter Landstrasse 1, Postfach 1129, D-85764 Neuherberg, Germany.
Abstract:
Postmenopausal hormone replacement therapy (HRT) has been linked to asthma in women, however, with inconsistent conclusions. This study examined the association of HRT with bronchial hyper-responsiveness (BHR). Eighty-five postmenopausal women completed a women-specific questionnaire and underwent methacholine challenge testing according to the protocol of the European community respiratory health survey. Associations of HRT use with BHR (based on a 20% fall in FEV1), mild BHR (10% fall in FEV1) or dichotomized dose-response slopes were analyzed by logistic regression, controlling for age, education, smoking and overweight. The 27 HRT users were less likely to show BHR compared to the 58 non-users (11% vs. 41%), multiply adjusted odds ratio (95% confidence interval) 0.12 (0.03, 0.55). Results for dose-response slopes were similar, while mild BHR showed no association with HRT use. These results point to a relaxing effect of estrogens on bronchial smooth muscle.
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