Quaternary ammonium compounds and occupational asthma
Quaternary ammonium compounds and occupational asthma
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DOI：
10.1007/s004200000162
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发表时间：
2000-08-01
影响因子：
3
通讯作者：
Pauli, G
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Purohit, A;Kopferschmitt-Kubler, MC;Pauli, G
目的：季铵化合物通常用作防腐剂、消毒剂、洗涤剂和防腐剂，其中苯扎氯铵是最知名的季铵化合物之一。会引起职业性哮喘。然而，尽管这些产品广泛使用，但迄今为止很少报道。我们报告三个这样的情况。引起哮喘的可能机制进行了讨论，考虑到他们的特点。方法与结果：我们的病人，所有女护士，表现出哮喘症状后，处理含有苯扎氯铵消毒液。他们的PEFR均出现与工作有关的下降。通过激发试验证实了诊断，其中患者在封闭室中暴露于托盘中含有的可疑消毒剂。所有妇女在接触后都出现了早期或延迟的症状。对安慰剂或其他不含季铵化合物的消毒剂进行的类似挑战试验均为阴性。结论：这三个案例，除了其他文献报道，指出了一个尚未知的病因学职业性哮喘季铵化合物在医院员工。其确切的作用机制仍不清楚。
Objective: Quaternary ammonium compounds, among which benzalkonium chloride is one of the best-known, are commonly used as antiseptics, disinfectants, detergents and preservatives. They can cause occupational asthma. which however, has been rarely reported so far, despite wide use of these products. We report three such cases. Possible mechanisms causing asthma are discussed, taking into account their characteristics. Methods and results: Our patients, all female nurses, manifested asthma symptoms upon handling disinfectant solutions containing benzalkonium chloride. Work-related fall in PEFR was observed in all of them. The diagnosis was confirmed by challenge tests where the patients were exposed, in a closed chamber, to suspected disinfectant contained ill a tray. All of the women developed early or delayed symptoms upon exposure. Similar challenge tests to placebo or other disinfectants devoid of quaternary ammonium compound were negative. Conclusion: These three cases, in addition to others reported in the literature, point out an as yet poorly known etiology of occupational asthma to quaternary ammonium compounds in hospital employees. The exact mechanism of the action remains unexplained.