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J Appl Physiol 101: 1813, 2006. First published August 17, 2006; doi:10.1152/japplphysiol.00868.2006
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LETTER TO THE EDITOR

REPLY FROM DRS. BROWN, PEARSE, PYRGOS, LIU, TOGIAS, AND PERMUTT

To the Editor: We accept the inference of Professor Stanescu (2), an authority on the measurement of pleythysmographic lung volumes, that the frequencies used by us for the measurements (1) were in a range where they could have been overestimated. We do not believe, however, that such an overestimation of lung volumes would have had any significance in invalidating our conclusions concerning the structural basis of airways hyperresponsiveness. The key factor that eliminates from consideration the possible role of the Stanescu artifact is the necessity that the Stanescu artifact would cause equal overestimations of functional residual capacity (FRC) and residual volume (RV), as pointed out by Professor Stanescu in his letter. Our conclusions concerning airways hyperresponsiveness are dependent on the magnitude of the difference in the change in the FRC and total lung capacity (TLC) in relation to the change in the RV, and that difference would not have been affected by panting frequency. When the increase in FRC or TLC was small in relation to the increase in RV, hyperresponsiveness was present; when the increase in FRC or TLC was large in relation to the increase in RV (equal or even greater), the hyperresponsiveness was attenuated or even absent. We quantified the relationship between the change in FRC relative to the change in RV by the FRCratio, defined by Eq. 2 in our paper, with the results of the analysis of the FRCratio on the structural basis of airways hyperresponsiveness presented in Tables 3 and 4 of our paper (1). We doubt that Professor Stanescu could account for how the Stanescu artifact could possibly be a determinant of the FRCratio.

As to the second point, we do not believe that any position-dependent effects on the measurements could have resulted in the specific relationships we observed between the FRCratio and airway structure as outlined above.

REFERENCES

  1. Brown RH, Pearse DB, Pyrgos G, Liu MC, Togias A, and Permutt S. The structural basis of airways hyperresponsiveness in asthma. J Appl Physiol 101: 30–39, 2006.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  2. Stanescu DC. Overestimation of lung volume. J Appl Physiol 101: 1812, 2006.[Free Full Text]

Robert H. Brown
David B. Pearse
George Pyrgos
Mark C. Liu
Alkis Togias
Solbert Permutt
 Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions
Baltimore, Maryland




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