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Effects of salmeterol in patients with persistent asthma receiving inhaled corticosteroid plus theophylline.

Author(s): Inoue H, Komori M, Matsumoto T, Fukuyama S, Matsumura M, Nakano T, Tsuda M, Matsumoto K, Kanaya A, Moriwaki A, Aizawa H, Yoshida M, Nakanishi Y

Affiliation(s): Research Institute for Diseases of the Chest, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan. inoue@kokyu.med.kyushu-u.ac.jp

Publication date & source: 2007, Respiration., 74(6):611-6. Epub 2006 Sep 5.

BACKGROUND: Patients with severe asthma require multiple therapies to improve lung function and reduce symptoms. The use of long-acting inhaled beta(2)-agonists plus theophylline in addition to high doses of inhaled corticosteroids (ICSs) for the treatment of severe asthma has not been extensively studied. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the efficacy and safety of salmeterol combined with high-dose ICSs plus theophylline in severe asthma. METHODS: We undertook a randomized, placebo-controlled, crossover study to compare the effect of a single dose of inhaled salmeterol (50 microg) or a placebo in patients with severe asthma whose conditions were not being adequately controlled by therapies with high-dose ICSs plus oral theophylline with or without leukotriene receptor antagonists. RESULTS: Twenty patients took part in the trial. Compared with the placebo, the inhalation of salmeterol significantly increased the FEV(1). Even in the 9 patients treated with high-dose ICSs plus theophylline plus a leukotriene receptor antagonist, the FEV(1) increased significantly more after salmeterol than after the placebo. CONCLUSION: Patients with severe asthma receiving high-dose ICSs plus theophylline may benefit from the addition of salmeterol. (c) 2006 S. Karger AG, Basel.

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