Researchers from the UT Southwestern Medical Center have found that an immune-system protein already used for treating health complications such as multiple sclerosis, hepatitis C and a variety of cancers could be of use to provide relief to patients afflicted with asthma.

The findings suggest that interferon could be a readily available and valuable therapy for treating asthmatic patients.

From Sciencedaily.com:

“This finding is incredibly important, because humans are being treated with interferon for a variety of diseases, yet no one has tried treating asthma patients with interferon,” said Dr. J. David Farrar, assistant professor of immunology and molecular biology at UT Southwestern and senior author of the study. “The current therapies for asthma are inhalers and steroids, both of which offer only temporary relief.”

Asthma results in approximately 200,000 pediatric hospitalizations each year, more than for any other childhood disease. About 20 million people have been diagnosed with asthma in the U.S.

In the current study, the researchers showed in isolated human cells that interferon blocks the development of nascent Th2 cells and inhibits cells that already have become Th2 cells by interfering with a regulatory protein called GATA3, a transcription factor Th2 cells express to regulate their function.

The findings are available online and appeared in the July 15 issue of the Journal of Immunology. The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health and Exxon Mobil Corp.

Tags:  asthma, GATA3, hepatitis C, interferon, multiple sclerosis, Steroids

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Approximately 37 million people in the United States alone are suffering from sinusitis and a majority of this population is also suffering from asthma, which is an inflammatory disease of the lungs that is characterized by reversible airway obstruction.

A study was entailed for examining the difference in symptoms that are noticed by asthmatics versus non-asthmatics. The authors of “The Incidence and the Effect of Asthma on Consecutive Patients with Chronic Rhinosinusitis,” were Melanie W. Seybt MD, Kevin C. McMains MD, and Stilianos E. Kountakis MD PhD, all with the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, GA.

From News-Medical.Net:

A retrospective chart review of 145 adult patients diagnosed with sinusitis at the Medical College of Georgia Rhinology Clinic between January of 2003 and September of 2003 was performed. Data included patient age, gender, presence or absence of asthma, presence of signs and symptoms including allergic rhinitis, nasal polyposis, nasal congestion, headache/facial pain, anosmia/hyposmia, rhinorrhea, and postnasal drip. Other variables evaluated included failure of medical management (prescription drugs) and need for surgical treatment. Patients were designated as asthmatic or non-asthmatic by patient history, use of asthma medications or prior pulmonary function tests.

All patients underwent medical therapy including intranasal steroids, saline nasal spray and irrigations, high-dose guaifenesin and appropriate antibiotic therapy when indicated, before being considered for surgery.

The findings were presented at the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Foundation Annual Meeting & OTO EXPO, at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, New York City, NY.

Tags:  asthma, intranasal steroids, sinusitis, Steroids

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According to a research conducted at the National Jewish Medical and Research Center, black asthmatic teens are at an increased risk of developing resistant to steroid-based asthma therapy than their white counterparts.

The study disclosed that black asthmatic teens are also more likely to suffer from high mortality rate and be sick when compared to the white teens.

From News.Bio-Medicine.Org:

“Our results suggest that children with steroid-resistant asthma are more likely to be African-American, to have required treatment with oral steroids at an earlier age and to require larger amounts of oral steroids for only marginal control of their asthma,” said Joseph Spahn, M.D., a pediatric allergist and director of the Immunopharmacology Lab at National Jewish.

Other recent epidemiological studies have shown that blacks with asthma are sicker and have a higher mortality rate than whites with asthma. Doctors at National Jewish now are trying to determine whether blacks have a more vigorous immune response to airway inflammation–which means that higher doses of steroids must be used to control inflammation–or a poor response to steroids secondary to a genetic resistance to the drugs.

“The theory is that with ongoing airway inflammation you get worsening asthma and diminished steroid sensitivity,” Dr. Spahn said.

This study of 164 teen-agers treated at National Jewish also showed that 25 percent of the group was steroid resistant. Children with less than a 15 percent improvement in lung function following a “burst” of inhaled steroids–high doses over seven days–were considered steroid resistant.

“Twenty-five percent of the kids admitted to National Jewish have steroid-resistant asthma, which is much greater than anyone thought,” Dr. Spahn said.

According to Joseph Spahn, M.D., a pediatric allergist and director of the Immunopharmacology Lab at National Jewish, African-American children are at increased risk to develop steroid-resistant asthma.

The study was published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

Tags:  asthma, inhaled steroids, oral steroids, steroid

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Female sex hormones could work with beta-agonists for reducing airway constriction, as per a new bench research from the Mayo Clinic.

The findings are being presented at the ATS 2010 International Conference in New Orleans.

From Sciencedaily.com:

“These novel data suggest that estradiol has bronchodilatory properties, and may potentiate beta-2-agonist effects,” said Ms. Townsend. “The finding that estrogens interact synergistically with beta-adrenoceptor signaling (perhaps using common pathways) to facilitate bronchodilation was exciting, and lends itself to further studies on interactions between sex steroids and beta-2-agonists.” But she and her team also cautioned that there is still considerable research necessary to fully understand the association between sex steroids and factors that contribute to asthma, before the information can be used clinically in patients to relieve asthma symptoms.

Sex steroids can play a role in modulating airway tone, as per lead student researcher, Elizabeth A. Townsend, of the Mayo Clinic Department of Physiology and Biomedical Engineering, where she is completing her Ph.D.

Tags:  asthma, sex steroids, Steroids

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Results of two separate studies taking place at Children’s Mercy Hospitals and Clinics can benefit physicians all over the world by helping them make use of genetic testing to prevent complications and ease the worry of new parents through predicting in advance as to which all of the newborns could be requiring hospital readmission shortly after birth.

The study results can also help physicians to identify which all of their young patients are expected to respond better or negligible to therapies involving steroids when it comes to treating asthma.

From Sciencedaily.com:

Up to 85 percent of hospital readmissions during the first two weeks of life are due to hyperbilirubinemia, more commonly recognized as jaundice. The condition can be concerning for new parents, and potentially devastating for the infant if not recognized and promptly treated. New research being led by Susan Abdel-Rahman, PharmD, professor of pediatrics at Children’s Mercy Hospitals and Clinics is identifying specific genetic markers that will enhance the ability to predict which newborns are at risk.

“This condition can be very harmful for newborn infants and scary for new parents,” said Dr. Abdel-Rahman. “Knowing in advance which babies are likely to experience symptoms can provide reassurance for parents and guidance for clinicians in determining which babies may benefit from more careful monitoring.”

The goal of the research is to develop an electronic tool that can be used by clinicians in nurseries nationwide to dramatically improve prediction of risk for hyperbilirubinemia and prevent complications due to late detection. The study will be among the largest of its kind, aiming to enroll 3,500 newborns.

The asthma research was led by Bridgette L. Jones, MD, allergy, asthma and immunology and clinical pharmacology specialist, and Carrie A. Vyhlidal, PhD, research scientist, pediatric clinical pharmacology, at Children’s Mercy Hospitals and Clinics, and a separate study was conducted by researchers at Children’s Mercy.

Tags:  asthma, jaundice, Steroids

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Calcitriol, a form of vitamin D synthesized within the body, can possibly minimize growth-factor-induced HASM proliferation in cells in asthmatic as well as non-asthmatic people.

This finding was reported by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania who also noted that Vitamin D can slow down the progressive decline in breathing ability experienced in asthmatic patients due to human airway smooth muscle (HASM) proliferation.

From Sciencedaily.com:

With its anti-inflammatory qualities and its ability to inhibit smooth muscle proliferation, Dr. Damera said, calcitriol may become an important new therapy, used alone or in combination with already prescribed steroids, for treating steroid-resistant asthma.

Dr. Damera and his colleagues have also conducted experiments to determine the mechanism by which calcitriol retards HASM proliferation. They believe the vitamin works by inhibiting activation of distinct set of proteins responsible for cell-cycle progression.

The investigators have also conducted experiments to determine whether calcitriol, which is currently used to treat psoriasis, could be an effective therapy for COPD. Although preliminary, their data shows that calcitriol appears to reduce pro-inflammatory cytokine secretions in COPD. As with asthma, the researchers believe, calcitriol may also have the added benefit of slowing, if not stopping, the progression of airway remodeling. Others in the field believe calcitriol may also have the potential to inhibit the development and growth of several types of cancer.

A randomized control trial of calcitriol in patients with severe asthma with expectations of trial data in a year’s time is now being planned by the researchers as a part of the University of Pennsylvania’s Airway Biology Initiative.

Tags:  asthma, calcitriol, HASM, psoriasis, Steroids, Vitamin D

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Even though steroid treatment is one of the most commonly recommended treatment options for asthma, yet bodies of some children may show no response to such treatment. This finding was disclosed by a new study presented at the American Thoracic Society.

It was suggested that some children may respond well while others may achieve no benefit at all with steroids, as per Gregory Sawicki, M.D. of Children’s Hospital in Boston.

From News-Medical.Net:

“The majority of children with mild asthma are less likely to have symptoms as they get older and may not need to be on daily steroids,” Dr. Sawicki said. “The flip side is that if a child has poor asthma control, the parents and doctor need to make sure the child is adhering to their inhaled steroid treatment. But variation in response to inhaled steroids, as other medications, is well described.”

The data comes from the Child Asthma Management Program Continuation Study (CAMPCS), one of the largest groups of children with mild to moderate asthma in the nation who have been followed over 10 years. “This study gives us a good sense of real-world practice in asthma management,” Dr. Sawicki says. “The children’s care is not directed by anyone in the study; it’s an observation of what goes on when the children’s care is directed by their own physicians.”

It was further noted by Sawicki that asthma control cannot be managed even if higher doses of steroids were administered to non-responsive children, much like all adult asthmatic patients do not derive benefit from steroids.

Tags:  asthma, asthma treatment, inhaled corticosteroids, inhaled steroids

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A potential new treatment approach has been identified for treating severe asthma, as per a small study. The approach is focused up on blocking of a powerful immune system, which is present in large amounts in patients with the severe form of asthma.

It is believed that one out of every ten asthmatics suffers from severe asthma that frequently requires progressively higher doses of steroids for controlling symptoms.

From News-Medical.Net:

Included in the study were 26 healthy people, 67 mild asthmatics, and 51 severe asthmatics. Bronchial fluid and lung tissue samples were taken from the participants to discover their levels of TNF alpha.

Levels were significantly higher in those with severe disease and concentrated in one particular type of immune cell (mast cells) which are recognised components of the inflammatory reaction in asthma.

TNF alpha levels were low and similar in those with no asthma or who only had mild symptoms.

This suggests that the high levels of TNF alpha in severe disease are characteristic of more chronic disease that is resistant to steroid treatment, rather than a feature of the disease itself, say the authors.

The authors caution that that more research is required in this field before the approach can be recommended at any stage but also said that this approach is a potentially new avenue of treatment for severe asthma.

Tags:  asthma, severe asthma, Steroids

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According to a research found in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, severe asthma patients can greatly benefit from intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) therapy because it was noted to reduce a patient’s sensitivity to steroids as well as it lowers emergency or hospitalization use.

During a 6-month period of study, it was noted that severe asthma patients administered with IVIG therapy had lesser incidence of confinement in hospitals and lesser trips to the emergency room. They were also found to use less glucocorticoids, or generally known as steroids. IVIG was effective both in patients who exhibit steroid insensitivity as well as those who respond normally to steroids. Researchers consider the effect of IVIG in reducing lung sensitivity to glucocorticoids as the reason behind this.

Aside from these benefits, IVIG is also considered to be non-toxic. Although it also has some side effects to it, side effects were still moderate compared to steroids’. Among the detrimental effects of steroids were suppression of bone growth in children and osteoporosis.

IVIG treatment costs a thousand dollars more than the usual method of asthma treatment but it is sure to improve the patient’s quality of life.

According to Eurekalert:

DENVER-People with severe asthma who are “insensitive” to steroids need less of the medication, fewer “bursts” of it in emergencies and spend less time in the hospital when using intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) in conjunction with steroids, according to research published today in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

Tags:  asthma, intravenous immunoglobulin

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Schering Plough, a global healthcare company recently announced their latest fixed dose combination for the treatment of asthma patients 12 years of age and above. The combination of mometasone furoate and formoterol fumarate is expected to bring in more sales for the company. Products containing a combination of inhaled corticosteroid and long acting beta-2 agonists (LABs) are the biggest segment in the market.

Mometasone furoate is an inhaled corticosteroid for the maintenance treatment of asthma. It is not recommended for children below 4 years old. On the other hand, formoterol fumarate is a beta-2 agonist, also used for maintenance treatment of asthma patients 5 years and up. Both drugs are not recommended as rescue inhalers, therefore, they are not recommended for use in acute symptoms of asthma.

The company filed a new drug application in the United States Food and Drug Administration for this particular combination. It has been accepted for review and they are hoping that it would be approved for use and distribution in the market. The company owns exclusive rights for manufacturing and distribution of mometasone furoate and formoterol fumarate. This combination comes in a single metered-dose inhaler.

From Medical News Today:

“We are pleased to announce the U.S. filing of the fixed-dose combination of mometasone furoate and formoterol fumarate,” said Thomas P. Koestler, Ph. D., executive vice president and president, Schering-Plough Research Institute. “If approved by the FDA, the mometasone fuorate/formoterol combination would represent an important additional treatment option for physicians and their patients and further strengthen Schering-Plough’s portfolio of respiratory products.”

Tags:  asthma, formoterol fumarate, mometasone furoate

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