Prevalence and countermeasure of chronic cough causes in eosinophilic bronchitis

Abstract

Objective To investigate the prevalence of eosinophilic bronchitis (EB),evaluate the treatment efficiency and safety on EB by montelukast and inhaled corticosteroids (budesonide).Methods EB from the chronic cough patients was diagnosed according to diagnostic criteria published by Chinese cough guidelines.The cases of EB were divided into three groups randomly.A group was treated with montelukast,B group with budesonide,C group with montelukast and budesonide,lasting for four weeks.The efficiency and safety of three groups were compared.Results 56 cases (12％) of EB were defined in 467 chronic cough patients.Among the three groups,there was no statistical significance on sex,age,cough history,cough symptom scores, induced sputum eosinophils ratio,eosinophilcationicprotein (ECP),leukotriene C4 (LTC4) before treatment ( P ＞ 0.05),no statistical significance on cough symptom improvement efficiency and the peripheral blood eosinophils count after treatment ( P ＞0.05).The induced sputum eosinophils ratio,ECP,LTC4 were all obviously reduced after treatment ( P ＜0.01),while those in C group were reduced than those in the other two groups ( P ＜0.05).There was no statistical significance on the incidence of side effects among the three groups ( P ＞0.05).Conclusions The prevalence of EB is high,and EB is an important cause for chronic cough.Montelukast single or union budesonide can relieve the cough of EB and eliminate eosinophilic airway inflammation. Key words: Eosinophilic bronchitis; Prevalence; Efficiency; Safety