Circulating beta-adrenoceptor blocking factors in asthma

The hypothesis that a generalized defect in beta-adrenoceptor function characterized asthma and atopy has been proposed by Szentivanyi. Such a defect may be intrinsic to the beta-adrenoceptor mechanism or could be attributed to circulating factors which interfere with the binding of catecholamines to beta-adrenoceptors. This study shows that sera from a proportion of the asthmatic population studied contain beta-adrenoceptor blocking activity and that the degree of inhibition correlates with some of the clinical indices of asthma.