Long-term effect of the beta2-receptor agonist procaterol on daily life performance and exercise capacity in patients with stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Clinical study with special reference to health-related quality of life and activities of daily living.

The present study was undertaken to evaluate the long-term effect of procaterol hydrochloride (CAS 62929-91-3, Meptin), a third generation beta2-receptor agonist on lung function, exercise capacity, health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and activities of daily living (ALDs) in patients with stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Twenty patients were randomly assigned to the procaterol group or to the control group, who received oxitropium bromide (CAS 30286-75-0), an anticholinergic agent. Procaterol was inhaled three times a day at a dose of 20 pg, while oxitropium was inhaled three times a day at a dose of 200 microg.

Effects of inspiratory and expiratory muscle training in normal subjects.

The present study aimed to clarify the effects of inspiratory muscle training (IMT) and expiratory muscle training (EMT) on ventilatory muscle strength, pulmonary function and responses during exercise testing. Young healthy women were randomly assigned to 3 groups: IMT (n=16); EMT (n=16); or untrained normal controls (NC, n=8). Subjects in the IMT and EMT groups trained for 15 minutes twice daily over 2 weeks at loads of 30% maximal inspiratory and expiratory muscle strength, respectively.

Antitussive effects of the H1-receptor antagonist epinastine in patients with atopic cough (eosinophilic bronchitis).

Chronic cough is the only symptom of eosinophilic bronchitis (EB). There is considerable overlap between EB and atopic cough. To investigate the antitussive effects of a histamine H1-recetor antagonist, epinastine hydrochloride (epinastine, CAS 80012-43-7, Alesion; 20 mg/day, once daily), cough scores, pulmonary function, capsaicin cough threshold, and bronchial hyperresonsiveness (BHR) to methacholine (MCh) were evaluated before and after a 4-week treatment with epinastine in patients with EB.