Abstract.
Airway irritation involves a variety of reflex mechanisms. Tracheal and bronchial C fibres and rapidly adapting fibres mediate cough, bronchoconstriction, and mucosal vasodilation. Workplace respiratory irritants can have a variety of effects in relation to asthma. Very high exposures can cause new-onset asthma, clinically presenting as reactive airways dysfunction syndrome or irritant-induced asthma. Symptoms after exposure to irritants depend on aggregate characteristics, water solubility and dose. Measurement of pulmonary function in response to irritants includes baseline spirometry, monitoring of across-shift changes and changes in non-specific bronchial responsiveness as well as bronchial responsiveness to inhaled allergens. Following irritant exposure, inflammatory changes within the airways are monitored by bronchoalveolar lavage or – less invasively – by sputum markers. A completely non-invasive approach not limited in repeatability is the investigation of inflammatory markers in exhaled air. However, the diagnostic and prognostic values of these novel markers have still to be demonstrated.
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Nowak, D. Chemosensory irritation and the lung. Int Arch Occup Environ Health 75, 326–331 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00420-002-0317-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00420-002-0317-5