Exercise-induced asthma and the use of hypertonic saline aerosol as a bronchial challenge

Exercise induced asthma is a common complaint and the prevalence appears to be increasing worldwide. Once confined to the research domain of university teaching hospitals, the study of EIA has extended into the school playground, defence force establishments and sports institutions. Standardized protocols have been developed to study EIA in the laboratory and in the field. A surrogate challenge using eucapnic or isocapnic hyperventilation with dry air is becoming popular because it has advantages over exercise, at least for adults. The stimulus that leads the airways to narrow is caused by the inhalation of dry air during hyperventilation and exercise, during which water is evaporated from the airways in order to condition the inspired air. The mechanism whereby the airways narrow is thought to be due to the dehydrating effects of water loss, particularly in relation to its potential to cause the airways to become hyperosmolar. Mast cell mediators such as histamine and the leucotrienes are probably involved in EIA because specific antagonists reduce severity. As a result of the osmotic theory of EIA, studies were carried out to determine whether subjects with EIA were sensitive to the effects of increasing airway osmolarity by inhalation of hyperosmolar aerosols of sodium chloride. A challenge protocol using an aerosol of 4.5% sodium chloride, generated from an ultrasonic nebulizer, has been used to identify persons with asthma and to assess response to drug therapy. There are many similarities between responses to exercise, hyperventilation and hypertonic saline in the physiological and biochemical responses and the responses to drugs. Challenge with hypertonic saline is easier and cheaper to use because expensive equipment and a source of dry air is not required as with exercise or hyperventilation. The ability to obtain a dose-response curve rather than a single response and the ability to collect inflammatory cells at the same time make challenge with hypertonic saline an attractive technique to study patients suspected of having asthma.