Abstract
IT was previously shown1,2 that testosterone is a powerful inhibitor of histamine and SRS* responses, and in view of the varying age incidence of status asthmaticus in the two sexes it was thought testosterone levels might have aetiological significance. Dutch workers have thought along similar lines3. Accordingly blood levels were measured in male and female subjects (by courtesy of Dr. J. Coghlan and Prof. Hudson) immediately after a severe attack. In two males the levels were 0.87 and 1.03 µg/ 100 ml. (high and one above normal: range 0.37–1.00) while in four females the levels were 0.13, 0.16, 0.19, and 0.29 µg/100 ml. (above normal: range 0.04–0.12). In another asthmatic subject, in the interval between attacks, the level was 0.24 µg/100 ml. (male), which is significantly low. I am now investigating the possibility that the level may be low in asthmatics, but that as a reaction to the stress of an attack, possibly associated with anoxia and hypercapnia, the levels rise high temporarily. Corticoid and also oestrin levels will be measured, as sometimes oestrins enhance histamine responses.
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References
Trethewie, E. R., Arch. Intern. Pharm. Therap., 149, 3, 366 (1964).
Trethewie, E. R., Nature, 198, 290 (1963).
Beumer, H. M., Acta Physiol. Pharm., Neerlandica, 10 (1962).
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TRETHEWIE, E. Asthma and Testosterone. Nature 209, 1136 (1966). https://doi.org/10.1038/2091136a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/2091136a0
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