Background: The significant value of tests used to certify the diagnosis of occupational asthma due to persulphate salts remains uncertain. Aims: To validate the specific inhalation challenge (SIC) test for the diagnosis of occupational asthma. Methods: Eight patients with occupational asthma due to persulphate salts, eight patients with bronchial asthma who were never exposed to persulphate salts, and ten healthy subjects were studied. Clinical history taking, spirometry, bronchial challenge wi...
Monitoring airway inflammation by means of induced sputum cell counts seems to improve the management of asthma. We sought to assess whether such monitoring at the end of periods at and away from work combined with the monitoring of PEF could improve the diagnosis of occupational asthma. We enrolled subjects suspected of having occupational asthma. Serial monitoring of PEF was performed during 2 weeks at and away from work. At the end of each period, induced sputum was collected. Specific inhala...
Recent data suggest that responsiveness to methacholine continues to improve 2 and more years after cessation of exposure to agents causing occupational asthma (OA). The goal of this study was to characterize further the curve of improvement to methacholine responsiveness in subjects with OA. Eighty subjects with confirmed OA who had at least two assessments of a provocative concentration of histamine causing a 20% drop in FEV1 (PC20) and were seen for at least 2 years after cessation of exposur...
Serial peak expiratory flow records are recommended in the first-line investigation of suspected occupational asthma. The effects of sequentially reducing the numbers of working weeks, consecutive days at work and readings taken per day on diagnostic sensitivity and specificity were investigated, using good quality peak expiratory flow records from 81 workers with independently confirmed occupational asthma and 60 asthmatics without occupational exposure. Sensitivity was 81.8% for records of 4 w...
Subjects with occupational asthma (OA) generally present asthma symptoms and airway hyperresponsiveness after cessation of exposure. We hypothesized that they are also left with airway inflammation. We assessed 133 subjects with OA at a mean interval of 8.7 years (0.5â20.8 years) after cessation of exposure by questionnaire, airway caliber, and responsiveness to methacholine. Satisfactory samples of induced sputum were obtained from 98 subjects. We defined three groups of subjects: (1) cured: no...
Summary Background Asparagus (Asparagus officinalis) is an extensively grown and consumed vegetable. To a lesser extent than other Liliaceae vegetables, allergic contact dermatitis (ACD) due to asparagus has been reported. However, only a few case reports of asparagus IgE-mediated allergy have been published. In a previous study, we demonstrated that two lipid transfer proteins (LTPs) (Aspa o 1.01 and Aspa o 1.02) were relevant allergens of asparagus. Objective We retrospectively analysed the 27...
Study objective To evaluate the effect of treatment with beclomethasone dipropionate (500 ÎŒg bid) and salmeterol (50 ÎŒg bid) on lung function and respiratory symptoms in 20 subjects with occupational asthma (OA) still exposed to the work environment cause of their disease. Methods At enrollment and every 6 months for 3 years, respiratory symptom score (from 0 [no symptoms] to 2 [moderate-to-severe symptoms]), spirometry, methacholine challenge, peak expiratory flow (PEF) variability, and the use...
BACKGROUND: There is theoretical evidence that specific airway conductance (SGaw) could be more reliable than forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) for assessing changes in airway calibre. We investigated the changes in FEV1 and SGaw when assessing bronchial responses to occupational agents. METHODS: SGaw and FEV1 were measured during inhalation challenges with various occupational agents in 174 consecutive subjects investigated for possible occupational asthma. RESULTS: A decline in SGaw of 50...
#2R. Fedele(UNIME: University of Messina)H-Index: 5
Last. S. Isola(UNIME: University of Messina)H-Index: 11
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Background Occupational asthma (OA) from iroko wood has been reported primarily in case reports. Objective To improve understanding of the pathogenesis of OA induced by iroko wood dust. Methods Three groups of woodworkers were included in this study: 9 workers who had clinically proven OA from iroko; 10 asymptomatic woodworkers; and 10 woodworkers with asthma. All patients underwent the following tests: a skin test with an iroko aqueous extract, specific IgE determination, and an iroko bronchial...
Summary Background The relationships between immunological reactivity and bronchial responsiveness to allergen and non-specific bronchial responsiveness are unclear in occupational asthma caused by low molecular weight substances. Objective We assessed the above relationships in green tea-induced asthma, an occupational asthma of green tea factory workers, in which epigallocatechin gallate (EGCg), a low molecular weight component of green tea leaves, is the causative agent. Methods Subjects cons...
Purpose Work-related asthma (WRA) occupies about 10%-30% of all asthma cases. Among 2 subtypes of WRA (occupational asthma [OA] and work-exacerbated asthma [WEA]), the rate of WEA has been reported to increase recently. WRA is described as having worse characteristics than non-WRA (NWRA), while WEA is known to show similar severity to OA in terms of symptoms and exacerbations. However, these data were mainly based on indirect surveys. Ulsan is a highly industrialized city in Korea; therefore, it...
Last. Graeme R. Zosky(UTAS: University of Tasmania)H-Index: 28
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Work-related asthma (WRA) is one of the most common occupational respiratory conditions, and includes asthma specifically caused by occupational exposures (OA) and asthma that is worsened by conditions at work (WEA). WRA should be considered in all adults with asthma, but especially those with new-onset or difficult to control asthma. Improvement in asthma symptoms when away from work is suggestive of WRA. Clinical history alone is insufficient to diagnose WRA; therefore, objective investigation...
Occupational asthma (OA) represents one of the major public health problems due to its high prevalence, important social and economic burden. The aim of this review is to summarize current data about clinical phenotypes, biomarkers, diagnosis and management of OA, a subtype of work-related asthma. Most studies have identified two phenotypes of OA. One is sensitizer-induced asthma, occuring after a latency period and caused by hypersensitivity to high- or low-molecular weight agents. The other is...
#2Susan M. Tarlo(U of T: University of Toronto)H-Index: 59
Work-related asthma should be considered in all adult working asthmatics. Failure to diagnose a work component to asthma can lead to unnecessary morbidity and increasing medication requirements for asthma. In a patient with confirmed asthma, the clinical history that includes key questions for work-related asthma has a high sensitivity for the diagnosis. However, objective tests are needed to confirm a diagnosis of sensitizer-induced occupational asthma, and these tests can most readily be arran...
BACKGROUND High-molecular-weight (HMW) proteins and low-molecular-weight (LMW) chemicals can cause occupational asthma (OA) although few studies have thoroughly compared the clinical, physiological, and inflammatory patterns associated with these different types of agents. The aim of this study was to determine whether OA induced by HMW and LMW agents show distinct phenotypic profiles. METHODS Clinical and functional characteristics, and markers of airway inflammation were analyzed in an interna...
The natural history of airway inflammation and symptoms in occupations at risk of asthma is still not fully understood. We aimed to study the evolution during apprenticeship of inflammation markers, bronchial hyperresponsiveness (BHR) and symptoms in at-risk subgroups as defined from measurements of markers made shortly after the start of training. Respiratory symptoms, FEV1 and airway resistance post-bronchial challenge (MBC) test results, fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) measurements, an...
#1Katelynn E. Dodd(NIOSH: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health)H-Index: 5
#2Jacek M. Mazurek(NIOSH: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health)H-Index: 17
ABSTRACTObjective: Asthma severity is defined as the intensity of treatment required to achieve good control of asthma symptoms. Studies have shown that work-related asthma (WRA) can be associated with poorer asthma control and more severe symptoms than non-WRA. Associations between asthma medications and WRA status were assessed using data from the 2012â2013 Asthma Call-back Survey among ever-employed adults (â„18Â years) with current asthma from 29 states. Methods: Persons with WRA had been told...
Introduction Although Asthma-COPD Overlap (ACO) has been described among populations of subjects with COPD or asthma, ACO has never been described among a population of subjects with occupational asthma (OA). Objectives The aims of this study were to: 1. identify ACO in a population of subjects with OA; and 2. compare the clinical characteristics between ACO and OA. Methods This retrospective study included all subjects diagnosed with OA between 2000 and 2017 in an OA referral center. Occupation...
Purpose of review Asthma is one of our societyâs heaviest health burdens, which is estimated to be responsible for 250,000 deaths every year. Whenever severe asthma with fatal or near-fatal events is described, occupational asthma is not specifically mentioned, but its importance should not be underestimated.
Occupational asthma is an important social, health, and economic burden in our society, but its treatment options have not been yet sufficiently explored. Drug therapies do not differ much from ordinary asthma treatments, and avoidance is the main managing option for this condition. However, other therapeutic options like immunotherapy and biological therapies have not been used as in other asthma and rhinitis etiologies. Occupational asthma has different pathomechanisms depending of its trigger...
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