Skip to main content
PMC home page
Thorax logoLink to Thorax
. 1999 Mar;54(3):234–237. doi: 10.1136/thx.54.3.234

Increased neutrophils and cytokines, TNF-α and IL-8, in induced sputum of non-asthmatic patients with chronic dry cough

A Jatakanon 1, U Lalloo 1, S Lim 1, K F Chung 1, P Barnes 1
PMCID: PMC1745433  PMID: 10325899

Abstract

BACKGROUND—The pathogenesis of non-asthmatic chronic dry cough remains unclear.
METHODS—A study was undertaken to determine whether airway inflammation could be a contributing factor by analysing inflammatory cells and cytokines in induced sputum from 19 patients with chronic dry cough of varying aetiology, excluding asthma and bronchiectasis, and from 10 normal controls. The associated causes for the chronic cough were post-nasal drip (n = 5), gastro-oesophageal reflux (n = 4), and idiopathic (n = 10). All patients had an enhanced cough reflex to capsaicin.
RESULTS—Sputum neutrophilia (median (interquartile range)) was found in the patients with chronic cough (59.4 (27.1)%) compared with the normal controls (28.4 (22.0)%; p<0.01, 95% CI 11.3 to 42.2). Sputum levels of interleukin-8 (IL-8) and tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) were also significantly increased compared with normal controls (0.57 (1.08) and 0.25 (0.72) ng/ml; p<0.05 (95% CI 0.05to 1.75) for IL-8; 48.3 (34.4) and 12.6 (33.6) pg/ml, p<0.01 (95% CI 8.8 to 69.8) for TNF-α).
CONCLUSION—Neutrophils and cytokines associated with neutrophil chemotaxis and activation may contribute to the pathogenesis of non-asthmatic chronic dry cough.



Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (135.9 KB).

Selected References

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

  1. Boulet L. P., Milot J., Boutet M., St Georges F., Laviolette M. Airway inflammation in nonasthmatic subjects with chronic cough. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 1994 Feb;149(2 Pt 1):482–489. doi: 10.1164/ajrccm.149.2.8306050. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Choudry N. B., Fuller R. W. Sensitivity of the cough reflex in patients with chronic cough. Eur Respir J. 1992 Mar;5(3):296–300. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Chung K. F., Lalloo U. G. Diagnosis and management of chronic persistent dry cough. Postgrad Med J. 1996 Oct;72(852):594–598. doi: 10.1136/pgmj.72.852.594. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Corren J., Adinoff A. D., Irvin C. G. Changes in bronchial responsiveness following nasal provocation with allergen. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 1992 Feb;89(2):611–618. doi: 10.1016/0091-6749(92)90329-z. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Fox A. J., Lalloo U. G., Belvisi M. G., Bernareggi M., Chung K. F., Barnes P. J. Bradykinin-evoked sensitization of airway sensory nerves: a mechanism for ACE-inhibitor cough. Nat Med. 1996 Jul;2(7):814–817. doi: 10.1038/nm0796-814. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Irwin R. S., Curley F. J., French C. L. Chronic cough. The spectrum and frequency of causes, key components of the diagnostic evaluation, and outcome of specific therapy. Am Rev Respir Dis. 1990 Mar;141(3):640–647. doi: 10.1164/ajrccm/141.3.640. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Keatings V. M., Collins P. D., Scott D. M., Barnes P. J. Differences in interleukin-8 and tumor necrosis factor-alpha in induced sputum from patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or asthma. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 1996 Feb;153(2):530–534. doi: 10.1164/ajrccm.153.2.8564092. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Kwon O. J., Au B. T., Collins P. D., Baraniuk J. N., Adcock I. M., Chung K. F., Barnes P. J. Inhibition of interleukin-8 expression by dexamethasone in human cultured airway epithelial cells. Immunology. 1994 Mar;81(3):389–394. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Nichol G., Nix A., Barnes P. J., Chung K. F. Prostaglandin F2 alpha enhancement of capsaicin induced cough in man: modulation by beta 2 adrenergic and anticholinergic drugs. Thorax. 1990 Sep;45(9):694–698. doi: 10.1136/thx.45.9.694. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Nightingale J. A., Rogers D. F., Barnes P. J. Effect of repeated sputum induction on cell counts in normal volunteers. Thorax. 1998 Feb;53(2):87–90. doi: 10.1136/thx.53.2.87. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. O'Connell F., Thomas V. E., Pride N. B., Fuller R. W. Capsaicin cough sensitivity decreases with successful treatment of chronic cough. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 1994 Aug;150(2):374–380. doi: 10.1164/ajrccm.150.2.8049818. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Ohkawara Y., Yamauchi K., Tanno Y., Tamura G., Ohtani H., Nagura H., Ohkuda K., Takishima T. Human lung mast cells and pulmonary macrophages produce tumor necrosis factor-alpha in sensitized lung tissue after IgE receptor triggering. Am J Respir Cell Mol Biol. 1992 Oct;7(4):385–392. doi: 10.1165/ajrcmb/7.4.385. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Pin I., Radford S., Kolendowicz R., Jennings B., Denburg J. A., Hargreave F. E., Dolovich J. Airway inflammation in symptomatic and asymptomatic children with methacholine hyperresponsiveness. Eur Respir J. 1993 Oct;6(9):1249–1256. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Pratter M. R., Bartter T., Akers S., DuBois J. An algorithmic approach to chronic cough. Ann Intern Med. 1993 Nov 15;119(10):977–983. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-119-10-199311150-00003. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Stone R., Barnes P. J., Fuller R. W. Contrasting effects of prostaglandins E2 and F2 alpha on sensitivity of the human cough reflex. J Appl Physiol (1985) 1992 Aug;73(2):649–653. doi: 10.1152/jappl.1992.73.2.649. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Thomas P. S., Yates D. H., Barnes P. J. Tumor necrosis factor-alpha increases airway responsiveness and sputum neutrophilia in normal human subjects. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 1995 Jul;152(1):76–80. doi: 10.1164/ajrccm.152.1.7599866. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Ventresca P. G., Nichol G. M., Barnes P. J., Chung K. F. Inhaled furosemide inhibits cough induced by low chloride content solutions but not by capsaicin. Am Rev Respir Dis. 1990 Jul;142(1):143–146. doi: 10.1164/ajrccm/142.1.143. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Thorax are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES