Cardiopulmonary exercise testing in the evaluation of patients with occupational asthma and reactive airways dysfunction syndrome

Oxidative stress has been known to play important roles in various inflammatory diseases of lung such as allergic bronchitis, dust particle-induced inflammatory diseases, or chronic bronchitis. However, the effects of oxidants on Cl- secretion in tracheal epithelia have not been determined. To examine the effects of oxidants on Cl- secretion of the airway epithelia rat tracheal epithelial cells were cultured on porous filters and short circuit current (Isc) was measured in an Ussing chamber system. t-Butylhydroperoxide, which was widely used as a model substance to study the mechanism of cell injury resulted from oxidative stress, induced a transient increase in Isc by dose-dependent manner. The response was not observed in Cl(-)-free medium, and inhibited by 100 microM bumetanide. N(-Diphenyl-1,4-phenylene-diamine (DPPD, 5 microM), an inhibitor of lipid peroxidation, blocked the t-butylhydroperoxide response. When t-butylhydroperoxide was added after the administration of forskolin or H-89, a protein kinase A inhibitor, the t-butylhydroperoxide-induce Isc increase was abolished. Pretreatment of indomethacin (10 microM) completely inhibited the t-butylhydroperoxide response, but pretreatment of thapsigargin (1 microM) did not, t-Butylhydroperoxide induced gradual increases in cytosolic Ca2+ level, and increased 3H]arachidonic acid release in the presence of thapsigargin. These results indicate that t-butylhydroperoxide stimulates Cl-secretion via activation of phospholipase A2 and subsequent production of cyclooxygenase metabolities by Ca(2+)-dependent and -independent mechanisms.