First treatment for asthma attacks in 50 years is more effective than standard treatment

He asthma It is a very common respiratory condition that, although it affects people of all ages, is considered by the World Health Organization (WHO) to be the most common chronic disease in children, which also indicates that 262 million people suffered from asthma and died from it in 2019 455,000 people. These figures provide insight into the impact of this public health problem and the importance of developing new treatments that effectively control its symptoms.

A clinical trial A phase two study called ABRA, led by scientists at King’s College London and sponsored by Oxford University, has now shown that the drug benralizumab It can be reused in emergency situations to reduce the need for additional treatment and hospitalization in asthma patients. This multicentre study was conducted at NHS hospitals in Oxford and London.

This is an injection that has been shown to, when given, during some asthma attacks and exacerbations of COPD more effective than current treatment with steroid tabletswhich reduces the need for additional procedures by 30%. The type of exacerbation that this injection treats is known as an “eosinophilic exacerbation” and causes symptoms such as shortness of breath, cough and chest tightness.

due to inflammation caused by increased levels of eosinophils (a type of white blood cell)

These exacerbations account for up to 30% of COPD episodes and almost 50% of asthma attacks and they tend to become more frequent over time, causing permanent lung damage in some cases. Standard treatment for these episodes has changed little in more than 50 years and mostly relies on steroids such as prednisolone, which reduces lung inflammation but can have serious side effects such as diabetes and osteoporosis. In addition, many patients do not respond adequately to treatment, requiring repeated courses of steroids and readmissions to the hospital or, in extreme cases, can result in death within 90 days.

Benralizumab reduced the number of doctor visits and hospitalizations

Preparation benralizumab This is a monoclonal antibody that specifically attacks eosinophils, causing reduce lung inflammation and which is currently used to treat severe asthma. Results from the ABRA trial showed that a single dose of benralizumab given during an exacerbation was more effective than steroid tablets.

In the study, patients at high risk of asthma attacks or COPD were divided into three groups: one received a benralizumab injection and a placebo tablet, another received standard treatment with prednisone (30 mg per day for five days) and a placebo injection, and the third received both a benralizumab injection. , and standard treatment. Because this was a double-blind study, neither patients nor researchers knew which treatment each participant received.

Patients treated with benralizumab experienced greater improvement in respiratory symptoms such as cough, wheezing, shortness of breath, and sputum production.

After 28 days of taking benralizumab, patients experienced greater improvement in respiratory symptoms such as cough, wheezing, difficulty breathing and sputum production compared to those not treated with the drug. After 90 days, this group had four times fewer treatment failures compared with standard prednisone treatment. In addition, the injection reduced the need for doctor visits or hospitalization and improved patients’ quality of life.

Professor Mona Bafadel, the study’s principal investigator, said in a note published by King’s College that the findings “could changing the game for people with asthma and COPD. Treatment of asthma and exacerbations of COPD has not changed in 50 years, despite a total of 3.8 million deaths worldwide each year.” He also emphasized that benralizumab injections administered by health care providers could be used in doctors’ offices or emergency rooms.

He Dr. Sanjay Ramakrishnanlead author of the study, noted that this achievement could save lives, while Dr. Samantha Walkerof Asthma + Lung UK, called the findings a breakthrough, but also highlighted the urgent need for more funding for lung health research, saying: “Every four minutes in the UK, someone dies from a lung disease.” Our goal is a future in which everyone has healthy lungs, and we will only achieve this through new, life-changing research.”

“Bronchial asthma is a common disease, the prevalence of which in industrialized countries reaches 10-13% of the population. The prevalence of asthma has doubled in Western Europe over the past 10 years, with 27% of the asthmatic population requiring assistance due to an exacerbation in the previous year. This latter circumstance may be due to the fact that clinical control of the asthmatic population in Europe, as in the US, is poor,” he explained in the SMC statement. Spain Jose Gregorio Soto Campos

Director of the Department of Pulmonology and Clinical Treatment of Allergies at the Hospital of Jerez and Professor at the University of Cadiz.

“Asthma exacerbations are common and important, so the use of a drug such as benralizumab in such situations will require a larger pharmacoeconomic (cost/effectiveness) study. We need to focus on preventing them and better select which patients we should treat with benralizumab within this exacerbating phenotype. Currently, in the current indications, we have this drug for the treatment of severe eosinophilic asthma and in this series a mix of patients according to severity is possible (according to the data, triple therapy, understood as Ci + LABA + LAMA, was carried out in 42% -50% of cases) ” , the expert concludes.