A study published on bmj.com has reported that a single corticosteroid drug dose along with antibiotics could be used to alleviate pain besides proving itself as a better treatment option than the use of antibiotics alone. This study, however, was silent about similar benefits for children with sore throat.

Dr Matthew Thompson at the University of Oxford and collaborators expected the premise that corticosteroids could successfully ease sore throat symptoms due to their anti-inflammatory effects.

From MedicalNewsToday.com:

The results of eight trials were analyzed. They compared corticosteroids to placebo in adults or children. Overall, 743 patients were involved in the trial, including 369 children and 374 adults. They all had symptoms of severe sore throat.

In order to reduce partiality, variations in study feature and quality were considered.

Results showed patients given corticosteroids together with antibiotics were three times more likely to report total clearing up of pain after 24 hours than patients given placebo. After 48 hours the effect on pain was less evident. According to the authors, this indicates that a single dose of corticosteroids may be sufficient.

In addition, corticosteroids reduced the average time to pain relief by about six hours. But, the researchers specify that considerable effects were observed only in adult patients and only in those receiving oral corticosteroids. After assessing the trials, it was apparent that the use of simple painkillers made no difference.

The authors explain: “These findings suggest that, in patients with severe sore throat, pain can be reduced and resolution hastened by use of corticosteroids in conjunction with antibiotic therapy.” They write in conclusion: “These results may also help to prevent antibiotic use, particularly in the context of delayed prescribing. Future research should focus on the effect of corticosteroids independent of antibiotics.”

The associated editorial said steroids could reduce pain in the first day but cautioned about absence of information on the possible harmful effects.

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Patients suffering from pneumonia can recover more quickly with a combination of corticosteroids and traditional antimicrobial therapy, as per scientists from the UT Southwestern Medical Center.

It is noteworthy to remember here that Corticosteroids are generally used to treat inflammation in relevance to infectious disease unlike anabolic steroids that are used to bulk muscles.

In a study available online, researchers at UT Southwestern remarked that mice infected with a certain type of severe bacterial pneumonia and treated with a combination of steroids and antibiotic therapy experience quicker recovery with less inflammation than a mice treated only with antibiotics.

From News-Medical.Net:

“Some people might think that if you give steroids, it would counteract the effect of the antibiotic,” said Dr. Robert Hardy, associate professor of internal medicine and pediatrics and the study’s senior author. “But it turns out you need the antibiotic to kill the bug and the steroid to make the inflammation in the lung from the infection get better. The steroids don’t kill the bugs, but they do help restore health.”

Pneumonia is a lung infection typically characterized by breathing difficulties and spread by coughing and sneezing. Symptoms include headache, fever, chills, coughs, chest pain, sore throat and nausea. Pneumonia caused by the Mycoplasma pneumoniae bacterium is generally a less severe form of the disease that can occur in any age group. It accounts for 20 percent to 30 percent of all community-acquired pneumonia cases.

In the current study, mice infected with the M pneumoniae bacterium were treated daily with a placebo, an antibiotic, a steroid, or a combination of the antibiotic and steroid in order to investigate the effect on M pneumoniae-induced airway inflammation. The animals were then evaluated after one, three and six days of therapy.

“It turns out that the group that got both the antibiotic and the steroids did the best,” Dr. Hardy said. “The inflammation in their lungs got significantly better.”

It was remarked by Dr. Hardy that it is still very early to recommend steroids as a form of standard treatment for patients suffering from this kind of bacterial pneumonia, but he also remarked that the work does support the need for a clinical trial.

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As per scientists from the UT Southwestern Medical Center, addition of corticosteroids to the traditional antimicrobial therapy is an effective option for helping pneumonia patients with quicker recovery than persisting with antibiotics alone.

It was remarked by Dr. Robert Hardy, associate professor of internal medicine and pediatrics and the study’s senior author that while antibiotics are good enough to kill the bug, steroids play an important role for treating lung inflammation.

From News-Medical.Net:

In the current study, mice infected with the M pneumoniae bacterium were treated daily with a placebo, an antibiotic, a steroid, or a combination of the antibiotic and steroid in order to investigate the effect on M pneumoniae-induced airway inflammation. The animals were then evaluated after one, three and six days of therapy.

“It turns out that the group that got both the antibiotic and the steroids did the best,” Dr. Hardy said. “The inflammation in their lungs got significantly better.”

Although antimicrobials remain the primary therapy for M pneumoniae infection, there have been several reports in recent years about physicians adding steroids to the treatment regimen of patients with severe cases, Dr. Hardy said. The problem, he said, is that those were individual case reports.

“They never had a control group, so it was impossible to tell what impact the addition of steroids had on recovery,” he said.

The new findings not only suggest that giving antibiotics with steroids can help individuals with pneumonia get better faster, but also suggest a potentially more effective therapy for someone in the midst of an asthma attack due to M pneumoniae infection. Up to 20 percent of asthma attacks in children and adults have been shown to be triggered by this bacterium.

Dr. Hardy said it’s too early to recommend steroids as standard treatment for people with this type of bacterial pneumonia, but the work does support the need for a clinical trial.

It was suggested that this treatment methodology can open up the doors of a potentially new and effective treatment therapy for patients in the midst of an asthma attack also, which is caused by M pneumoniae infection.

Tags:  antibiotics, antimicrobial therapy, asthma, corticosteroids, M pneumoniae bacterium, pneumonia, Steroids

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