Skip to main content
PMC home page
Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases logoLink to Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases
. 1991 Jan;50(1):36–40. doi: 10.1136/ard.50.1.36

Bronchial hyperresponsiveness to methacholine in patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome.

B Gudbjörnsson 1, H Hedenström 1, G Stålenheim 1, R Hällgren 1
PMCID: PMC1004322  PMID: 1994866

Abstract

The prevalence of bronchial hyperresponsiveness (BHR) to methacholine inhalation in a consecutive series of 21 patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome was studied prospectively. Slight to severe BHR was seen in 12/20 (60%) of the patients. Ten of 12 patients with BHR (83%) had a non-productive cough, wheezing, or intermittent breathlessness. Bronchial hyperresponsiveness was more common in patients with extraglandular symptoms (10/14, 71%) than in those with only glandular symptoms (29%). Spirometrically 29% (6/21) of the patients had 'small airways' disease', and all those had BHR. Of 6/21 (29%) who had diffuse interstitial lung disease, two had BHR. Three of the four patients with obstructive lung function were challenged with methacholine and two of them had BHR. Only two patients with BHR had normal spirometry findings. The data showed that respiratory disease--mostly mild or moderate but even severe bronchial hyperresponsiveness--is commonly seen in patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome.

Full text

PDF

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Anderson L. G., Talal N. The spectrum of benign to malignant lymphoproliferation in Sjögren's syndrome. Clin Exp Immunol. 1972 Feb;10(2):199–221. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Andonopoulos A. P., Constantopoulos S. H., Drosos A. A., Moutsopoulos H. M. Pulmonary function of nonsmoking patients with rheumatoid arthritis in the presence and absence of secondary Sjögren's syndrome, a controlled study. Respiration. 1988;53(4):251–258. doi: 10.1159/000195434. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Andonopoulos A. P., Constantopoulos S. H., Drosos A. A., Moutsopoulos H. M. Pulmonary function of nonsmoking patients with rheumatoid arthritis in the presence and absence of secondary Sjögren's syndrome, a controlled study. Respiration. 1988;53(4):251–258. doi: 10.1159/000195434. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Barnes P. J. Asthma as an axon reflex. Lancet. 1986 Feb 1;1(8475):242–245. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(86)90777-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Chisholm D. M., Mason D. K. Labial salivary gland biopsy in Sjögren's disease. J Clin Pathol. 1968 Sep;21(5):656–660. doi: 10.1136/jcp.21.5.656. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Chung K. F. Role of inflammation in the hyperreactivity of the airways in asthma. Thorax. 1986 Sep;41(9):657–662. doi: 10.1136/thx.41.9.657. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Constantopoulos S. H., Moutsopoulos H. M. Respiratory involvement in patients with Sjögren's syndrome: is it a problem? Scand J Rheumatol Suppl. 1986;61:146–150. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Constantopoulos S. H., Papadimitriou C. S., Moutsopoulos H. M. Respiratory manifestations in primary Sjögren's syndrome. A clinical, functional, and histologic study. Chest. 1985 Aug;88(2):226–229. doi: 10.1378/chest.88.2.226. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Curry J. J. COMPARATIVE ACTION OF ACETYL-BETA-METHYL CHOLINE AND HISTAMINE ON THE RESPIRATORY TRACT IN NORMALS, PATIENTS WITH HAY FEVER, AND SUBJECTS WITH BRONCHIAL ASTHMA. J Clin Invest. 1947 May;26(3):430–438. doi: 10.1172/JCI101826. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Empey D. W., Laitinen L. A., Jacobs L., Gold W. M., Nadel J. A. Mechanisms of bronchial hyperreactivity in normal subjects after upper respiratory tract infection. Am Rev Respir Dis. 1976 Feb;113(2):131–139. doi: 10.1164/arrd.1976.113.2.131. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Giffon E., Orehek J., Vervloet D., Arnaud A., Charpin J. Asthma without airway hyperresponsiveness to carbachol. Eur J Respir Dis. 1987 Apr;70(4):229–233. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Hargreave F. E., Ryan G., Thomson N. C., O'Byrne P. M., Latimer K., Juniper E. F. Bronchial responsiveness to histamine or methacholine in asthma: measurement and clinical significance. Eur J Respir Dis Suppl. 1982;121:79–88. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Hatron P. Y., Wallaert B., Gosset D., Tonnel A. B., Gosselin B., Voisin C., Devulder B. Subclinical lung inflammation in primary Sjögren's syndrome. Relationship between bronchoalveolar lavage cellular analysis findings and characteristics of the disease. Arthritis Rheum. 1987 Nov;30(11):1226–1231. doi: 10.1002/art.1780301104. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Hedenström H., Malmberg P., Agarwal K. Reference values for lung function tests in females. Regression equations with smoking variables. Bull Eur Physiopathol Respir. 1985 Nov-Dec;21(6):551–557. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Hedenström H., Malmberg P., Fridriksson H. V. Reference values for lung function tests in men: regression equations with smoking variables. Ups J Med Sci. 1986;91(3):299–310. doi: 10.3109/03009738609178670. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Heintze U., Birkhed D., Björn H. Secretion rate and buffer effect of resting and stimulated whole saliva as a function of age and sex. Swed Dent J. 1983;7(6):227–238. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Juniper E. F., Frith P. A., Hargreave F. E. Airway responsiveness to histamine and methacholine: relationship to minimum treatment to control symptoms of asthma. Thorax. 1981 Aug;36(8):575–579. doi: 10.1136/thx.36.8.575. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Juniper E. F., Frith P. A., Hargreave F. E. Long-term stability of bronchial responsiveness to histamine. Thorax. 1982 Apr;37(4):288–291. doi: 10.1136/thx.37.4.288. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Moutsopoulos H. M., Chused T. M., Mann D. L., Klippel J. H., Fauci A. S., Frank M. M., Lawley T. J., Hamburger M. I. Sjögren's syndrome (Sicca syndrome): current issues. Ann Intern Med. 1980 Feb;92(2 Pt 1):212–226. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-92-2-212. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Neu I. S. Stoffwechselaspekte der Multiplen Sklerose. Wien Med Wochenschr. 1985 Jan 31;135(1-2):20–22. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Oxholm P., Bundgaard A., Birk Madsen E., Manthorpe R., Vejlø Rasmussen F. Pulmonary function in patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome. Rheumatol Int. 1982;2(4):179–181. doi: 10.1007/BF00286141. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Richardson J. B. Airways smooth muscle. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 1987 Sep;80(3 Pt 2):409–411. doi: 10.1016/0091-6749(87)90062-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Segal I., Fink G., Machtey I., Gura V., Spitzer S. A. Pulmonary function abnormalities in Sjögren's syndrome and the sicca complex. Thorax. 1981 Apr;36(4):286–289. doi: 10.1136/thx.36.4.286. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Ziza J. M., Kaplan G., Salomon C., Kahn M. F. Fibroses pulmonaires graves révélatrices d'un syndrome de Gougerot-Sjögren primitif. A propos de cinq observations, dont deux mortelles. Ann Med Interne (Paris) 1986;137(1):46–50. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES