Effects of skin cooling with or without hyperpnea of frigid air on
airway mechanics in asthmatic and normal subjects.
McDonald, James S., Joann Nelson, K. A. Lenner, Melissa L. McLane, and
E. R. McFadden, Jr.
Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, University
Hospitals of Cleveland and the Department of Medicine of Case Western
Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, Ohio 44106-5067
APStracts 3:0465A, 1996.
To investigate whether reducing integumental temperatures influences
pulmonary mechanics and interacts with inhaling cold air, 10 normal
and 10 asthmatic subjects participated in a three-part trial in which
cooling the skin of the head and thorax, and isocapnic
hyperventilation of frigid air were undertaken as isolated challenges
and then administered in combination. Integumental cooling for 30
minutes caused airway obstruction to develop in both populations (_
FEV1 asthma = 10%; normal = 6%). Hyperventilation, however, only
affected the asthmatics (_ FEV1 asthma = 18%; normal = 3%). In
contrast to expectations, the combined challenge did not produce a
summation effect (_ FEV1 asthma = 21%; normal = 7%). These data
demonstrate that the skin of the trunk and head is cold sensitive and
when stimulated causes similar degrees of bronchial narrowing in both
normal subjects and patients with airway disease independent of any
ventilatory effect. They also indicate that cooling of the skin does
not add to the obstructive consequences of hyperpnea.
Received 11 April 1996; accepted in final form 24 September 1996.
APS Manuscript Number A347-6.
Article publication pending Journal of Applied Physiology.
ISSN 1080-4757 Copyright 1996 The American Physiological Society.
Published in APStracts on 5 November 1996