In patients with eosinophilic sinusitis and comorbid bronchial asthma, sinusitis treatment with dupilumab may ease asthma symptoms.
Although the anti–interleukin (IL)-4α receptor antibody dupilumab is indicated for uncontrolled chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (CRSwNP) and severe or uncontrolled bronchial asthma, it has not been a recommended treatment for well-controlled or mild to moderate asthma, said study researchers. The current study of patients with mild to moderate asthma and CRSwNP sought to determine how dupilumab treatment initiated for CRSwNP affected the patient’s mild to moderate asthma, particularly with respect to changes in type 2 inflammatory markers, Asthma Control Test (ACT) scores, pulmonary function tests, and forced oscillation technique.
All study participants were examined at a single center in Japan — the Department of Otolaryngology and Respiratory Medicine in Matsuwaki Clinic Shinagawa in Tokyo. A total of 62 consecutive adult patients underwent respiratory, otolaryngologic, and blood examinations after 3 months of dupilumab therapy for sinusitis, with 23 individuals undergoing tests after 1 year of treatment. Most of the patients studied had been treated with an approximate 5-mg daily dose of oral corticosteroids (prednisone) for poorly controlled sinusitis. All study participants had a history of asthma or were currently receiving treatment for asthma; none had experienced asthma attacks during the past 3 months and all were well controlled with their current asthma treatment (mean ACT score, 22 to 23) or were treatment-free. Read more here.
Frequent Productive Cough Common in Asthma, COPD
Frequent productive cough (FPC) was associated with an increased risk for adverse clinical outcomes among patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and/or asthma, according to study findings published in Respiratory Medicine.
To investigate the occurrence and associated outcomes of frequent productive cough (FPC), researchers conducted a retrospective analysis using data captured from 7125 patients enrolled in the NOVELTY study (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02760329). Of patients included in the analysis, 3754 had asthma, 2484 had COPD, and 887 had both diseases. The presence of FPC was assessed at baseline via the St George Respiratory Questionnaire. Multivariable logistic regression was used to assess associations between FPC and patients’ baseline demographic and disease characteristics, with age, sex, and current smoking status selected as covariates.
The prevalence of FPC was increased in patients who were current smokers (48.5%) compared with those who were former smokers (30.6%) and those who never smoked (24.6%). Of patients who never smoked, the prevalence of FPC was increased among those with COPD vs those with asthma (40.9% vs 23.0%). The researchers found that FPC was most common among patients with asthma plus COPD (38.5%), followed by those with COPD alone (38.1%) and those with asthma alone (25.0%). For all patients, self-reported worsening of symptoms 3 months before baseline occurred more frequently in those with vs without FPC. Read more here.
