Mediators of hypersensitivity and "fog"-induced asthma

Seven asthmatic and five normal subjects inhaled increasing amounts of nebulized water ("fog"). Neutrophil chemotactic activity (NCA), histamine and FEV1 measurements were undertaken before and at time intervals after challenge. In asthmatics, the mean maximal reduction in FEV1 (+/- 1 SD) was 46.6% +/- 11.5; whereas, in normal subjects, the reductions were less than 20% of pre-challenge values after the inhalation of 33 ml of water. There were no significant differences in the pre-challenge values for NCA between the asthmatics and the normal controls. When the highest values for NCA during the 30 min after challenge in the asthmatics were compared with controls there was a significant increase (P less than 0.02). The percentage change in NCA was also significantly greater in the asthmatics compared with the controls at 10 min after challenge (P less than 0.05). Fog-induced NCA was shown to be associated with proteins with approximate molecular weight of 600,000 daltons (as assessed by gel filtration chromatography on Sephacryl-S400). There was an increase in plasma histamine in the asthmatics after challenge but this was not significantly greater than the controls. These findings support the view that mediators might be involved in fog-induced asthma, possibly as a result of mast cell degranulation by "osmotic shock".