Background: The fraction of exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) has been suggested as a non-invasive marker of eosinophilic inflammation in asthma, but lately rather as a biomarker of atopy than of asthma itself. Asthma after bronchiolitis is common up to early adolescence, but the inflammation and pathophysiology may differ from other phenotypes of childhood asthma. We aimed to assess if FeNO was different in children with former hospitalization for bronchiolitis and a control group, and to explore whether the role of FeNO as a marker of asthma, atopy or bronchial hyperresponsiveness (BHR) differed between these two groups of children.
Methods: The study included 108 of 131 children (82%) hospitalized for bronchiolitis in 1997-98, of whom 82 (76%) had tested positive for Respiratory syncytial virus, and 90 age matched controls. The follow-up took place in 2008-2009 at 11 years of age. The children answered an ISAAC questionnaire regarding respiratory symptoms and skin prick tests, spirometry, methacholine provocation test and measurement of FeNO were performed.
Results: Analysed by ANOVA, FeNO levels did not differ between the post-bronchiolitis and control groups (p = 0.214). By multivariate regression analyses, atopy, height (p < 0.001 for both) and BHR (p = 0.034), but not asthma (p = 0.805) or hospitalization for bronchiolitis (p = 0.359), were associated with FeNO in the post-bronchiolitis and control groups. The associations for atopy and BHR were similar in the post-bronchiolitis and in the control group.
Conclusion: FeNO did not differ between 11 year old children hospitalized for bronchiolitis and a control group. FeNO was associated with atopy, but not with asthma in both groups.