Effect of oral prednisolone on plasma levels of leukotriene E4 in asthmatic patients during a wheezing attack: A pilot study

To investigate whether oral prednisolone affects plasma levels of leukotriene E₄ (LTE₄) in asthmatic patients during a wheezing attack, we measured the concentration of LTE₄ in the femoral artery of five asthmatic patients during wheezing. The blood sampling was performed four times in each patient: during the first remission, during the attack without prenisolone treatment, during the attack with prednisolone treatment, and during the second remission. The presence of LTE₄ was confirmed by high-pressure liquid chromatography and radioimmunoassay. The mean ± SD amounts of LTE₄ during the first remission, during the attack without prednisolone, during the attack with prednisolone, and during the second remission were 32.66 ± 9.43, 86.38 ± 8.03, 49.6 ± 12.61, and 32.02 ± 9.16 pg/ml, respectively. In the five control subjects, the mean ± SD amount of LTE₄ was 22.2 ± 7.81 pg/ml. Based on these results, we conclude that oral prednisolone inhibits the release of LTE₄ from various cells accumulated in asthmatic lungs, resulting in an attenuation of the symptoms of bronchial asthma.