Decreased Plasma Free Fatty Acids and Urinary Epinephrine in Bronchial Asthma

Plasma free fatty acids, urinary epinephrine, norepinephrine and vanyllylmandelic acid, measured in six young male students with perennial, mild to moderate asthma in remission, and six matched healthy controls, on successive days under conditions of "stress" (exposure to mental arithmetic and a film) and "relaxation," demonstrated significant biochemical differences although both groups were equally aroused emotionally. The control subjects showed a marked mobilization of free fatty acids and marked rise in urinary epinephrine under stress, whereas the patients had low and relatively constant levels for both substances under both conditions. In contrast, norepinephrine and vanyllylmandelic acid did not differentiate between the two groups. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that there is decreased activity of the adrenal medulla but normal activity of the sympathetic nervous system in bronchial asthma.