INVESTIGATION OF THE EFFECT OF KETOTIFEN ON ALCOHOL-INDUCED ASTHMA - A CASE-STUDY

A male patient with bronchial asthma suffered severe exacerbation of symptoms after drinking alcohol and this was not prevented by treatment with bronchodilators. After taking 1 mg ketotifen twice daily for nasal obstruction, within 1 month there was no longer any exacerbation of symptoms by alcohol. Blood samples were taken and peripheral eosinophils were purified and incubated with beer antigen. Using a chemiluminescence method, it was shown that pretreatment with ketotifen dose dependently inhibited the generation of the highly reactive oxygen metabolite superoxide (O2−) by the eosinophils. It is proposed that ketotifen prevented the alcoholexacerbated asthma attacks by inhibiting the release of tissuedamaging superoxide from eosinophils. © 1990, SAGE Publications. All rights reserved.