Skip to main content
PMC home page
Occupational and Environmental Medicine logoLink to Occupational and Environmental Medicine
. 1999 Aug;56(8):544–547. doi: 10.1136/oem.56.8.544

Sulphur dioxide sensitivity and plasma antioxidants in adult subjects with asthma

C A Trenga, J Q Koenig, P V Williams
PMCID: PMC1757773  PMID: 10492652

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: To screen adult subjects with asthma for sensitivity to inhaled sulphur dioxide (SO2) and identify subject characteristics associated with that sensitivity. Medication use, symptoms, and plasma antioxidant nutrients between SO2 responders and non-responders were compared. METHODS: Adult subjects (ages 18-39 years) with asthma were exposed to 0.5 ppm SO2 for 10 minutes during moderate exercise. Pulmonary function tests and symptom ratings were assessed before and after exposure (n = 47). A subject was classified as sensitive to SO2 if forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) showed a drop > or = 8% over baseline. Blood samples were obtained from subjects (n = 38) before the SO2 challenge; plasma ascorbate, alpha-tocopherol, retinol, carotenoids, and lipids were measured. RESULTS: Of the 47 subjects screened, 53% had a drop in FEV1 > or = 8% (ranging from -8% to -44%). Among those 25 subjects, the mean drop in FEV1 was -17.2%. Baseline pulmonary function indices (FEV1% of predicted and FEV1/FVC% (forced vital capacity)) did not predict sensitivity to SO2. Although use of medication was inversely related to changes in pulmonary function after SO2 (p < 0.05), both SO2 responders and non-responders were represented in each medication category. Total symptom scores after exposure were significantly correlated with changes in FEV1 (p < 0.05), FVC (p < 0.05), and peak expiratory flow (PEF) (p < 0.01) but not forced expiratory flow between 25% and 75% vital capacity (FEF25-75). Plasma beta-carotene concentrations were inversely associated with PEF values and ascorbate concentrations were inversely associated with FEV1 and FEV1/FVC (p = 0.05 in all cases). High density lipoprotein concentrations were positively correlated with FEV1% of predicted (p < 0.05) and inversely correlated with change in FEF25-75 (p < 0.05) after SO2. CONCLUSION: These results show that the response to SO2 among adults with mild to moderate asthma is very diverse. Severity of asthma defined by medication category was not a predictor of sensitivity to SO2. Lung function values were associated with beta-carotene and ascorbate concentrations in plasma; however, plasma antioxidant nutrient concentrations were not associated with sensitivity to inhaled SO2.

 

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (84.4 KB).

Selected References

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

  1. Bieri J. G., Tolliver T. J., Catignani G. L. Simultaneous determination of alpha-tocopherol and retinol in plasma or red cells by high pressure liquid chromatography. Am J Clin Nutr. 1979 Oct;32(10):2143–2149. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/32.10.2143. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Black P. N., Sharpe S. Dietary fat and asthma: is there a connection? Eur Respir J. 1997 Jan;10(1):6–12. doi: 10.1183/09031936.97.10010006. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Britton J. R., Pavord I. D., Richards K. A., Knox A. J., Wisniewski A. F., Lewis S. A., Tattersfield A. E., Weiss S. T. Dietary antioxidant vitamin intake and lung function in the general population. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 1995 May;151(5):1383–1387. doi: 10.1164/ajrccm.151.5.7735589. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Greene L. S. Asthma and oxidant stress: nutritional, environmental, and genetic risk factors. J Am Coll Nutr. 1995 Aug;14(4):317–324. doi: 10.1080/07315724.1995.10718516. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Hatch G. E. Asthma, inhaled oxidants, and dietary antioxidants. Am J Clin Nutr. 1995 Mar;61(3 Suppl):625S–630S. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/61.3.625S. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Hiltermann T. J., Stolk J., van der Zee S. C., Brunekreef B., de Bruijne C. R., Fischer P. H., Ameling C. B., Sterk P. J., Hiemstra P. S., van Bree L. Asthma severity and susceptibility to air pollution. Eur Respir J. 1998 Mar;11(3):686–693. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Kardinaal A. F., van 't Veer P., Brants H. A., van den Berg H., van Schoonhoven J., Hermus R. J. Relations between antioxidant vitamins in adipose tissue, plasma, and diet. Am J Epidemiol. 1995 Mar 1;141(5):440–450. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a117446. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Koenig J. Q., Pierson W. E., Horike M., Frank R. Effects of SO2 plus NaCl aerosol combined with moderate exercise on pulmonary function in asthmatic adolescents. Environ Res. 1981 Aug;25(2):340–348. doi: 10.1016/0013-9351(81)90036-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Nowak D., Jörres R., Berger J., Claussen M., Magnussen H. Airway responsiveness to sulfur dioxide in an adult population sample. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 1997 Oct;156(4 Pt 1):1151–1156. doi: 10.1164/ajrccm.156.4.9607025. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Redlich C. A., Grauer J. N., Van Bennekum A. M., Clever S. L., Ponn R. B., Blaner W. S. Characterization of carotenoid, vitamin A, and alpha-tocopheral levels in human lung tissue and pulmonary macrophages. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 1996 Nov;154(5):1436–1443. doi: 10.1164/ajrccm.154.5.8912761. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Rondinelli R. C., Koenig J. Q., Marshall S. G. The effects of sulfur dioxide on pulmonary function in healthy nonsmoking male subjects aged 55 years and older. Am Ind Hyg Assoc J. 1987 Apr;48(4):299–303. doi: 10.1080/15298668791384797. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Schwartz J., Weiss S. T. Dietary factors and their relation to respiratory symptoms. The Second National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Am J Epidemiol. 1990 Jul;132(1):67–76. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a115644. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Schwartz J., Weiss S. T. Relationship between dietary vitamin C intake and pulmonary function in the First National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES I). Am J Clin Nutr. 1994 Jan;59(1):110–114. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/59.1.110. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Soutar A., Seaton A., Brown K. Bronchial reactivity and dietary antioxidants. Thorax. 1997 Feb;52(2):166–170. doi: 10.1136/thx.52.2.166. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Troisi R. J., Willett W. C., Weiss S. T., Trichopoulos D., Rosner B., Speizer F. E. A prospective study of diet and adult-onset asthma. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 1995 May;151(5):1401–1408. doi: 10.1164/ajrccm.151.5.7735592. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Occupational and Environmental Medicine are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES