Prostaglandin-Synthesis Inhibition and Exercise Bronchospasm

Excerpt

To the editor: Kordansky and associates (Ann Intern Med 88:508-511, 1978) present a unique, well-documented case of an adult with nonatopic, adult-onset asthma whose bronchospasm improved after the administration of well-established prostaglandin-synthesis inhibitor drugs (aspirin, mefenamic acid, Ibuprofen). Idiosyncratic findings such as these, as well as in-vitro studies on the influence of prostaglandin-synthesis inhibitors on smooth muscle, have led some authors to postulate a fundamental role for prostaglandins in asthma (1). To guard against the uncontrolled use of such ubiquitous drugs as prostaglandin-synthesis inhibitors in a population known to have a high degree of aspirin intolerance (2), we wish to