Search PubMed⌕ Search
Home/Archive/PubMed

PubMed · 8620967

Wheezes.

N Meslier·G Charbonneau·J L Racineux
View original source ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

Wheezes are continuous adventitious lung sounds. The American Thoracic Society Committee on pulmonary nomenclature define wheezes as high-pitched continuous sounds with a dominant frequency of 400 Hz or more. Rhonchi are characterized as low-pitched continuous sounds with a dominant frequency of about 200 Hz or less. The large variability in the predominant frequency of wheezes is one of the difficulties encountered with automated analysis and quantification of wheezes. The large variations observed in automated wheeze characterization emphasize the need for standardization of breath sound analysis. This standardization would help determine diagnostic criteria for wheeze identification. The mechanism of wheeze production was first compared to a toy trumpet whose sound is produced by a vibrating reed. The pitch of the wheeze is dependent on the mass and elasticity of the airway walls and on the flow velocity. More recently, a model of wheeze production based on the mathematical analysis of the stability of airflow through a collapsible tube has been proposed. According to this model, wheezes are produced by the fluttering of the airways walls and fluid together, induced by a critical airflow velocity. Many circumstances are suitable for the production of continuous adventitious lung sounds. Thus, wheezes can be heard in several diseases, not only asthma. Wheezes are usual clinical signs in patients with obstructive airway diseases and particularly during acute episodes of asthma. A relationship between the degree of bronchial obstruction and the presence and characteristics of wheezes has been demonstrated in several studies. The best result is observed when the degree of bronchial obstruction is compared to the proportion of the respiratory cycle occupied by wheeze (tw/ttot). However, the relationship is too scattered to predict forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) from wheeze duration. There is no relationship between the intensity or the pitch of wheezes and the pulmonary function. The presence or quantification of wheezes have also been evaluated for the assessment of bronchial hyperresponsiveness. Wheeze detection cannot fully replace spirometry during bronchial provocation testing but may add some interesting information. Continuous monitoring of wheezes might be a useful tool for evaluation of nocturnal asthma and its treatment.

Explore related subjects

AsthmaAuscultationBronchial HyperreactivityBronchial Provocation TestsHumansLung Diseases, ObstructiveRespiratory SoundsJournal ArticleReview

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeXRIS

N Meslier, G Charbonneau, J L Racineux. 1995. Wheezes.. https://doi.org/10.1183/09031936.95.08111942

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related citations

PubMed2026

Reframing the asthma microbiome: Multikingdom, multisite, and multiomic perspectives.

The field of asthma microbiome research has shifted rapidly in recent years. Advances in sequencing technology have led to an increased ability to characterize multikingdom microbial species and integration with host -omics profiling to enhance future translational applications. Traditional bacteria-centric, cross-sectional studies are giving way to mechanistic frameworks that incorporate fungi, viruses, and host-immune interactions. In this state-of-the-art review of emerging concepts in microbiome asthma research, we first propose a structured framework to consider microbiome studies across 5 major domains-microbial kingdom, site of sampling, integration with host -omics, clinical outcome domain, and translational relevance-in order to synthesize recent high-impact human microbiome studies in asthma. We highlight emerging evidence that fungal and viral communities contribute independently to asthma risk and that human microbial communities are linked to distinct inflammatory and immune pathways shaped by host genetic susceptibility.

Asthma↗
PubMed2026

H3K9ac promoter profiling and their association with gene expression in immune cells of T2-high asthma patients.

BACKGROUND: Asthma is a heterogeneous chronic inflammatory syndrome, with the T2-high endotype defined by robust type 2 immune responses and skewed T helper polarization. Although H3K9 acetylation (H3K9ac) is a key activating histone mark in T helper differentiation, its genome-wide promoter landscape in circulating immune cells of T2-high asthma remains uncharacterized. METHODS: Integrated ChIP-seq and RNA-seq profiling was performed on peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from ten T2-high asthma patients and ten healthy controls. Differential H3K9ac enrichment and gene expression were analyzed, followed by concordance and Spearman correlation analyses to identify genes under H3K9ac-linked transcriptional regulation. Findings were contextualized using publicly available H3K27ac ChIP-seq datasets from asthmatic airway tissue and glucocorticoid-treated airway epithelial cells. RESULTS: We identified 2340 differential enrichment regions (DERs), 95.9% mapping to promoters, with nearly all showing H3K9ac loss and enrichment in T cell receptor signaling and Th1/Th2/Th17 differentiation pathways. Genes encoding histone-modifying enzymes, including HATs, HDACs, and HMTs, were overrepresented, suggesting a self-reinforcing epigenetic feedback loop. Integrated analysis identified 979 genes with concordant H3K9ac and expression changes: downregulated genes were enriched in lymphocyte activation and TNF signaling, whereas upregulated genes were enriched in AKT and MAPK pathways. Locus-specific analyses showed H3K9ac loss at Th1/Th17 genes (TBX21, IFNG, CCR6) and gain at Th2 genes (IL4, TSLP). Targeted RT-qPCR provided independent experimental support for reduced expression of Th1-associated genes, with significant decreases in STAT1 and STAT4 in T2-high asthma patients. Correlation analysis identified six genes with significant H3K9ac-expression associations. CONCLUSIONS: Promoter H3K9ac remodeling is a defining epigenetic feature of T2-high asthma, reflecting coordinated alterations at T helper lineage-defining loci and inflammatory pathways.

Asthma↗
PubMed2026

Functional Variant Discovery Identifies a Novel Genetic Link between SPRY2, Wood Smoke, and Asthma.

As a consequence of climate change and land-use policies, there has been a historic rise in wildfire smoke across the United States and the world. Although the deleterious effects of wildfire smoke and associated air pollution on asthma outcomes are established epidemiologically, genetic risks and molecular mechanisms of how wildfire smoke affects asthma are unknown. This knowledge gap hinders the identification of high-risk individuals and the creation of targeted therapies or recommendations to protect these individuals. We identified 52 genetic risk variants that colocalized with genomic responses to woodsmoke particles (WSPs), a model of wildfire particulate matter, and associated with asthma in the GERA (Genetic Epidemiology Research on Adult Health and Aging) cohort. We used additional filters to prioritize variants for direct testing of allele-dependent transcriptional regulatory function in plasmid reporters. We found that the rs3861144 variant (odds ratioasthma, 1.036) changes SPRY2 responses to WSPs in airway epithelial cells, which are involved in IL-8 secretion, ERK (extracellular signal-related kinase) activation, and mechanical scratch repair in cell culture. These findings provide insights into the molecular pathways through which WSPs may influence asthma risk and propose genetic candidates that warrant further study for their potential as clinical tools for asthma.

Asthma↗