Prefrontal cortex activation is associated with dyspnea during methacholine bronchial provocation tests in patients with bronchial asthma

摘要

Asthmatic patients experience dyspnea during asthma attacks, which are characterized as bronchoconstriction caused by various triggers.'! However, little is known about the brain mechanisms un- derlying the perception of dyspnea in patients with asthma. We pre- viously reported that activation of the prefrontal cortex was correlated with dyspnea during exercise in chronic obstructive pul- monary disease (COPD) patients.” Therefore, we hypothesized that dyspnea of asthmatic patients is also related to activation of the pre- frontal cortex. Bronchial provocation tests are often used to confirm diagnosis, and bronchoconstriction induces a variable magnitude of dyspnea in asthmatic patients. The purpose of this preliminary study is to investigate the relationship between dyspnea perception and the cortical activation of prefrontal areas during methacholine bronchial provocation tests in asthmatic subjects using near- infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). This study is the first to monitor sequential changes in cortical hemodynamics and cortical activation in relation to dyspnea perception in patients with bronchial asthma.