Bronchial hyperresponsiveness (or other combinations withairway orhyperreactivity, BH used as a general abbreviation)[1] is a state characterised by easily triggeredbronchospasm (contraction of thebronchioles or small airways).
Bronchial hyperresponsiveness can be assessed with abronchial challenge test. This most often uses products likemethacholine orhistamine. These chemicals trigger bronchospasm in normal individuals as well, but people with bronchial hyperresponsiveness have a lower threshold.
Bronchial hyperresponsiveness is a hallmark ofasthma but also occurs frequently in people withchronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).[2] In the Lung Health Study, bronchial hyperresponsiveness was present in approximately two-thirds of patients with non-severe COPD, and this predicted lung function decline independently of other factors.[3] In asthma it tends to be reversible withbronchodilator therapy, while this is not the case in COPD.
Bronchial hyperresponsiveness has been associated with gas cooking among subjects with theGSTM1 null genotype.[4]
^Postma DS, Kerstjens HA (November 1998). "Characteristics of airway hyperresponsiveness in asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease".Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med.158 (5 Pt 3): S187–92.doi:10.1164/ajrccm.158.supplement_2.13tac170.PMID9817744.
^Tashkin DP, Altose MD, Connett JE, Kanner RE, Lee WW, Wise RA (June 1996). "Methacholine reactivity predicts changes in lung function over time in smokers with early chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The Lung Health Study Research Group".Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med.153 (6 Pt 1):1802–11.doi:10.1164/ajrccm.153.6.8665038.PMID8665038.
