Impact of patient support programmes among patients with severe asthma treated with biological therapies: a systematic literature review and indirect treatment comparison.

INTRODUCTION: Effective treatment of severe asthma requires patient adherence to inhaled and biological medications. Previous work has shown that patient support programmes (PSP) can improve adherence in patients with chronic diseases, but the impact of PSPs in patients with severe asthma treated with biologics has not been thoroughly investigated. METHODS: We conducted a systematic literature review to understand the impact of PSPs on treatment adherence, asthma control and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in patients with severe asthma. Embase, MEDLINE and EconLit databases were searched for studies published from 2003 (the year of the first biological approval for severe asthma) to June 2023 that described PSP participation among patients with severe asthma on biological treatment. Direct pooling of outcomes was not possible due to the heterogeneity across studies, so an indirect treatment comparison (ITC) was performed to determine the effect of PSP participation on treatment discontinuation. The ITC used patient-level data from patients treated with benralizumab either enrolled in a PSP (VOICE study, Connect 360 PSP) or not enrolled in a PSP (Benralizumab Patient Access Programme study) in the UK. FINDINGS: 25 records of 21 studies were selected. Six studies investigated the impact of PSPs on treatment adherence, asthma control or HRQoL. All six studies reported positive outcomes for patients enrolled in PSPs; the benefits of each PSP were closely linked to the services provided. The ITC showed that patients in the Connect 360 PSP group were less likely to discontinue treatment compared with the non-PSP group (OR 0.26, 95% CI 0.11 to 0.57, p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: PSPs contribute to positive clinical outcomes in patients with severe asthma on biological treatment. Future analyses will benefit from thorough descriptions of PSP services, and study designs that allow direct comparisons of patient outcomes with and without a PSP.

Ratio of plasma IL-13/TNF- ∝ and CXCL10/CCL17 predicts mepolizumab and omalizumab response in asthma better than eosinophil count or immunoglobulin E level.

To date, most studies to identify biomarkers associated with response to the anti-interleukin 5 agent, mepolizumab, and to the anti-immunoglobulin E agent, omalizumab have focused on clinically available biomarkers, such as the peripheral blood eosinophil counts (BEC) and total immunoglobulin E (IgE). However, these biomarkers often have low predictive accuracy, with many patients with eosinophilic or allergic asthma failing to demonstrate clinical response to mepolizumab or omalizumab respectively. In this study, we evaluated the association of baseline pre-biologic plasma levels of 26 cytokines and chemokines, including T-helper 1 (Th1)-, Th2-, Th17-related cytokines, and their ratios with subsequent clinical response to mepolizumab or omalizumab. We defined clinical response as a reduction in the baseline annual exacerbation rate by half or more over the one-year period following initiation of the biologic. Baseline levels of plasma IL-13 were differentially elevated in responders versus non-responders to mepolizumab and plasma CXCL10 levels were differentially elevated in responders to omalizumab. The ratio of IL-13/TNF-α had the best sensitivity and specificity in predicting response to mepolizumab and CXCL10/CCL17 to omalizumab, and these performed better as predictive biomarkers of response than BEC and IgE. Cytokines and chemokines associated with airway eosinophilia, allergic inflammation, or Th2 inflammation, such as IL-13 and CXCL10, may be better predictors of clinical response to mepolizumab and omalizumab, than IL-5 or IgE, the targets of mepolizumab and omalizumab.

[Effectiveness and safety of biological therapy in patients with severe asthma in a real clinical practice].

AIM: To assess effectiveness and safety of biological therapy in patients with severe asthma during 5 yr follow-up. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We recruited 129 adult outpatients (29% males) aged 18-81 yrs with severe asthma were followed up during 5 yrs and were examined for every 3-6 months. Eighty five patients were treated by conventional therapy (ICS/LABA ± tiotropium, montelukast, OCS) only and 44 pts additionally received biologicals (оmalizumab - 9 pts, мepolizumab - 8 pts, benralizumab - 11 pts, dupilumab - 16 pts). Pulmonary function tests were measured by dry spirometer (2120, Vitalograph Ltd., UK). Eosinophil count in blood was assessed by automatic haemoanalyser. Fraction of exhaled nitric oxide was measured by a chemiluminescence analyzer (LR4100; Logan Research, UK). Asthma control and quality of life were assessed by using Russian versions of ACQ-5 and SGRQ. RESULTS: The use of biologicals led to a more significant reduction of exacerbations and OCS use, improvement of lung function, asthma control and quality of life, decrease of eosinophil and fraction of exhaled nitric oxide than conventional therapy of severe asthma (p<0.05). Systemic side effects were not registered, frequency of local adverse reactions (edema, hyperemia and itching at injection site) was 14%. CONCLUSION: Long-term use of biologicals added to conventional therapy in patients with severe asthma is characterized by high effectiveness and favorable safety profile.

Mixed-methods evaluation of an enhanced asthma biologics clinical pathway in the West Midlands UK.

Biologic treatments can alleviate severe asthma symptoms and reduce health service use. However, service capacity limits and low referral rates from primary care indicate unmet patient need. We report a mixed-methods evaluation of an enhanced severe asthma pathway implemented in Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent, UK which aimed to optimise primary care referrals through training/education, and increased capacity in specialist clinics. Quantitative analysis assessed patient wait times between pathway stages, prescribing changes, exacerbations, hospital admissions and asthma control. Interviews with 12 stakeholders evaluated perceptions of the enhanced pathway across settings. In 12 months, 564 patients from 28 general practices were reviewed for biologics eligibility, of whom 125 (22.2%) were referred for specialist assessment. Wait times were significantly lower under the enhanced pathway when compared against historic patients following the standard pathway, and reduced overall from a mean of 76.4 to 26.7 weeks between referral and biologics initiation (p < 0.001). Patients commencing biologics (n = 46) showed significantly reduced reliever inhaler prescribing rates (p = 0.037), 60% lower oral steroid use (p < 0.001), significantly reduced exacerbation rates (p < 0.001) and fewer hospital admissions (p < 0.001) compared with the 12 months pre-treatment. Mean asthma control scores reduced from 3.13 pre-initiation to 1.89 post-initiation (p < 0.001) - a clinically significant improvement. Interviewees viewed the enhanced pathway positively, although ongoing issues related to difficulties engaging primary care amid concerns around increased workloads and pathway capacity. The large number of referrals generated from a comparatively small number of general practices confirms substantial unmet need that an enhanced severe asthma pathway could help address if implemented routinely.

Association between pre-biologic T2-biomarker combinations and response to biologics in patients with severe asthma.

Background: To date, studies investigating the association between pre-biologic biomarker levels and post-biologic outcomes have been limited to single biomarkers and assessment of biologic efficacy from structured clinical trials. Aim: To elucidate the associations of pre-biologic individual biomarker levels or their combinations with pre-to-post biologic changes in asthma outcomes in real-life. Methods: This was a registry-based, cohort study using data from 23 countries, which shared data with the International Severe Asthma Registry (May 2017-February 2023). The investigated biomarkers (highest pre-biologic levels) were immunoglobulin E (IgE), blood eosinophil count (BEC) and fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO). Pre- to approximately 12-month post-biologic change for each of three asthma outcome domains (i.e. exacerbation rate, symptom control and lung function), and the association of this change with pre-biologic biomarkers was investigated for individual and combined biomarkers. Results: Overall, 3751 patients initiated biologics and were included in the analysis. No association was found between pre-biologic BEC and pre-to-post biologic change in exacerbation rate for any biologic class. However, higher pre-biologic BEC and FeNO were both associated with greater post-biologic improvement in FEV1 for both anti-IgE and anti-IL5/5R, with a trend for anti-IL4Rα. Mean FEV1 improved by 27-178 mL post-anti-IgE as pre-biologic BEC increased (250 to 1000 cells/µL), and by 43-216 mL and 129-250 mL post-anti-IL5/5R and -anti-IL4Rα, respectively along the same BEC gradient. Corresponding improvements along a FeNO gradient (25-100 ppb) were 41-274 mL, 69-207 mL and 148-224 mL for anti-IgE, anti-IL5/5R, and anti-IL4Rα, respectively. Higher baseline BEC was also associated with lower probability of uncontrolled asthma (OR 0.392; p=0.001) post-biologic for anti-IL5/5R. Pre-biologic IgE was a poor predictor of subsequent pre-to-post-biologic change for all outcomes assessed for all biologics. The combination of BEC + FeNO marginally improved the prediction of post-biologic FEV1 increase (adjusted R2: 0.751), compared to BEC (adjusted R2: 0.747) or FeNO alone (adjusted R2: 0.743) (p=0.005 and <0.001, respectively); however, this prediction was not improved by the addition of IgE. Conclusions: The ability of higher baseline BEC, FeNO and their combination to predict biologic-associated lung function improvement may encourage earlier intervention in patients with impaired lung function or at risk of accelerated lung function decline.

The effect of telephone and short-message follow-ups on compliance and efficacy in asthmatic children treated with inhaled corticosteroid: A randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: This study aims to evaluate the effect of telephone and short-message follow-ups on compliance and efficacy in asthmatic children treated with inhaled corticosteroids. METHODS: A total of 120 children with moderate bronchial asthma who visited the Asthma Outpatient Department of the Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University were enrolled in the study. They were divided randomly into 3 groups based on the type of follow-up given: a combined telephone and short-message service (Tel + SMS) group, a SMS group, and a control group. After being followed up for 12 weeks, each child's asthma control level was assessed and their lung function was measured. RESULTS: The compliance rates of children in the Tel + SMS group and SMS group were 86.49% and 56.25%, respectively. The total effective rates of these 2 groups (94.59% and 75.0%, respectively) were significantly higher than the rate of the control group (P < .01). The lung function indicators of the children in all 3 groups were better than those before treatment, although only the Tel + SMS group and SMS group improved significantly (P < .05). The lung function indicators of the large and small airways in the Tel + SMS group and the SMS group were also significantly better than those of the control group (P < .01). The results of the study suggest that 1 of the causes of poor compliance in asthmatic children is fear of an adverse reaction to inhaled corticosteroids. CONCLUSION: Telephone and short-message follow-ups can increase compliance with inhaled corticosteroid treatment and improve the asthma control levels and lung function of asthmatic children.

3-carene supresses inflammatory cytokine interleukin-4, interleukin-5 and interleukin-13 in a murine model of asthma.

Asthma is a common airway disease associated with allergic inflammation. Environmental factors, such as pollens, pollution, insect-borne antigens, or commercial chemicals, cause this disease. The common symptoms of this airway allergic reaction are increasing mucus, narrowing of the airway wall, coughing, and chest tightness. Medications, such as steroids, alleviate the disease but with severe side effects. Several studies have reported the anti-inflammatory effects of tree-based essential oil components, particularly 3-carene. Therefore, this study used 3-carene to determine if it alleviates asthmatic symptoms in the murine model. First, BALB/c mice were sensitized to an ovalbumin and aluminium hydroxide mixture on day 7th and 14th. From days 21st to 23rd, the mice were challenged with 3-carene and budesonide. The lung trachea, plasma, and bronchiolar lavage fluid (BAL fluid) were collected on day 24. The 3-carene treatment suppressed the cytokine gene expression, such as interleukin-4 (IL-4), IL-5, and IL-13, reducing the lung epithelial cell thickness in the asthmatic model. These results suggest that essential oil 3-carene has an anti-asthmatic effect.

Tezepelumab: patient selection and place in therapy in severe asthma.

Asthma is a disease characterised by heterogeneous and multifaceted airway inflammation. Despite the availability of effective treatments, a substantial percentage of patients with the type 2 (T2)-high, but mainly the T2-low, phenotype complain of persistent symptoms, airflow limitation, and poor response to treatments. Currently available biologicals target T2 cytokines, but no monoclonal antibodies or other specific therapeutic options are available for non-T2 asthma. However, targeted therapy against alarmins is radically changing this perspective. The development of alarmin-targeted therapies, of which tezepelumab (TZP) is the first example, may offer broad action on inflammatory pathways as well as an enhanced therapeutic effect on epithelial dysfunction. In this regard, TZP demonstrated positive results not only in patients with severe T2 asthma but also those with non-allergic, non-eosinophilic disease. Therefore, it is necessary to identify clinical features of patients who can benefit from an upstream targeted therapy such as anti-thymic stromal lymphopoietin. The aims of this narrative review are to understand the role of alarmins in asthma pathogenesis and epithelial dysfunction, examine the rationale underlying the indication of TZP treatment in severe asthma, summarise the results of clinical studies, and recognise the specific characteristics of patients potentially eligible for TZP treatment.

Blocking group 2 innate lymphoid cell activation and macrophage M2 polarization: potential therapeutic mechanisms in ovalbumin-induced allergic asthma by calycosin.

BACKGROUND: Calycosin, a flavonoid compound extracted from Astragalus membranaceus, has shown anti-asthma benefits in house dust mite-induced asthma. Recent studies have suggested that innate-type cells, including group 2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2s) and macrophages, serve as incentives for type 2 immunity and targets for drug development in asthma. This work focuses on the effects of calycosin on the dysregulated ILC2s and macrophages in allergic asthma. METHODS: In vivo, the asthmatic mouse model was established with ovalbumin (OVA) sensitization and challenge, and calycosin was intraperitoneally administered at doses of 20 and 40 mg/kg. In vivo, mouse primary ILC2s were stimulated with interleukin (IL)-33 and mouse RAW264.7 macrophages were stimulated with IL-4 and IL-13 to establish the cell models. Cells were treated with calycosin at doses of 5 and 10 µM. RESULTS: In vivo, we observed significantly reduced numbers of eosinophils, neutrophils, monocyte macrophages and lymphocytes in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) of OVA-exposed mice with 40 mg/kg calycosin. Histopathological assessment showed that calycosin inhibited the airway inflammation and remodeling caused by OVA. Calycosin markedly decreased the up-regulated IL-4, IL-5, IL-13, IL-33, and suppression tumorigenicity 2 (ST2) induced by OVA in BALF and/or lung tissues of asthmatic mice. Calycosin repressed the augment of arginase 1 (ARG1), IL-10, chitinase-like 3 (YM1) and mannose receptor C-type 1 (MRC1) levels in the lung tissues of asthmatic mice. In vivo, calycosin inhibited the IL-33-induced activation as well as the increase of IL-4, IL-5, IL-13 and ST2 in ILC2s. Calycosin also repressed the increase of ARG1, IL-10, YM1 and MRC1 induced by IL-4 and IL-13 in RAW264.7 macrophages. In addition, we found that these changes were more significant in 40 mg/kg calycosin treatment than 20 mg/kg calycosin. CONCLUSIONS: Collectively, this study showed that calycosin might attenuate OVA-induced airway inflammation and remodeling in asthmatic mice via preventing ILC2 activation and macrophage M2 polarization. Our study might contribute to further study of asthmatic therapy.

ß-glucan mitigates ovalbumin-induced airway inflammation by preventing oxidative stress and CD8+ T cell infiltration.

BACKGROUND: Bronchial asthma is a severe respiratory condition characterized by airway inflammation, remodeling, and oxidative stress. ß-Glucan (BG) is a polysaccharide found in fungal cell walls with powerful immunomodulatory properties. This study examined and clarified the mechanisms behind BG's ameliorativeactivitiesin an allergic asthma animal model. METHOD: BG was extracted from Chaga mushroom and characterized using FT-IR, UV-visible, zeta potential, and 1H NMR analysis. The mice were divided into five groups, including control, untreated asthmatic, dexamethasone (Dexa)-treated (1 mg/kg), and BG (30 and 100 mg/kg)-treated groups. RESULTS: BG treatment reduced nasal scratching behavior, airway-infiltrating inflammatory cells, and serum levels of IgE significantly. Additionally, BG attenuated oxidative stress biomarkers by lowering malonaldehyde (MDA) concentrations and increasing the levels of reduced glutathione (GSH), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), and catalase (CAT). Immunohistochemical and flow cytometric analyses have confirmed the suppressive effect of BG on the percentage of airway-infiltrating cytotoxic CD8+ T cells. CONCLUSION: The findings revealed the role of CD8+ T cells in the pathogenesis of asthma and the role of BG as a potential therapeutic agent for asthma management through the suppression of airway inflammation and oxidative stress.

Biological treatments in childhood asthma.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The aim is to update the information currently available for the use of biologics in severe asthma in children, in order to facilitate their prescription as far as possible. RECENT FINDINGS: The appearance of biologics for the treatment of severe asthma has meant a revolutionary change in the therapeutic approach to this disease. Currently, five biologics have been approved for severe asthma in children and/or adolescents by the regulatory agencies: omalizumab, mepolizumab, benralizumab, dupilumab and tezepelumab. But despite their positive results in terms of efficacy, there are still relevant points of debate that should induce caution when selecting the most appropriate biologic in a child with severe asthma. Indeed, safety is essential and, for several of the existing treatments, the availability of medium-term to long-term data in this regard is scarce. SUMMARY: The use of biologics can facilitate the therapeutic paradigm shift from pleiotropic treatments to personalized medicine. However, the choice of the most appropriate biologics remains a pending issue. On the other hand, to the extent that several of the biologics have been available for a relatively short time, the most robust evidence in terms of efficacy and safety in children is that of omalizumab.

Asthma medication adherence, control, and psychological symptoms: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Nonadherence to therapies and psychological disorders are associated with poor asthma control. This study aims to assess the prevalence of anxiety and depressive symptoms, asthma control, and adherence to inhalers and to investigate whether there is an association of anxiety and depressive symptoms with adherence to inhalers and asthma control. METHODS: We measured anxiety and depressive symptoms using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale in patients with asthma. Asthma Control Test and the 10-Item Test of Adherence to Inhalers Scale were used to assess levels of asthma control adherence to inhalers, respectively. Univariate and multivariate regression models assessed the associations of anxiety and depressive symptoms with adherence to inhalers and asthma control. RESULTS: A total of 287 patients completed the study, of whom 72% were female. The mean ± SD age and body mass index of our study population were 44 ± 13 years and 29 ± 7.2 kg/m2, respectively. Poor adherence to inhaler use was highly prevalent (49.8%; 95% CI: 43.8 to 55.7). The prevalence of anxiety, depression and poor asthma control was 27.2% (95% CI: 22.1 to 32.7), 20.9% (95% CI: 16.3 to 26.1), and 22.7% (95% CI: 17.9 to 27.9), respectively. We found a negative relationship between asthma control and anxiety, and depressive symptoms (adjusted ß: -0.25; 95% CI: -0.36 to -0.14; p < 0.001 and adjusted ß: -0.29; 95% CI: -0.40 to -0.18; p < 0.001, respectively). A negative relationship was also observed between adherence to inhalers and anxiety and depressive symptoms (adjusted ß: -0.34; 95% CI: -0.46 to -0.22; p < 0.001 and adjusted ß: -0.36; 95% CI: - 0.48 to - 0.24; p < 0.001, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: The high prevalence of uncontrolled asthma symptoms and poor adherence to inhalers and their impact on anxiety and depression levels among patients with asthma point to the need for early screening for psychological symptoms and recognition of nonadherence as part of asthma assessment and management plan in primary care in Saudi Arabia to avoid further worsening of asthma symptoms. Further studies are needed to explore the effectiveness of specific psychoeducational interventions and investigate the long-term impact of early psychological symptom detection on asthma outcomes.

Impact of pharmaceutical care for asthma patients on health-related outcomes: An umbrella review.

Recent systematic reviews suggest that pharmacists' interventions in asthma patients have a positive impact on health-related outcomes. Nevertheless, the association is not well established, and the role of clinical pharmacists is poorly represented. The aim of this overview of systematic reviews is to identify published systematic reviews assessing the impact of pharmacists' interventions on health-related outcomes measured in asthma patients. PubMed, Embase, Scopus, and Cochrane Library were searched from inception to December 2022. Systematic reviews of all study designs and settings were included. Methodological quality was assessed using AMSTAR 2. Two investigators performed study selection, quality assessment and data collection independently. Nine systematic reviews met the inclusion criteria. Methodological quality was rated as high in one, low in two, and critically low in six. Reviews included 51 primary studies reporting mainly quality of life, asthma control, lung capacity, and therapeutic adherence. Only four studies were carried out in a hospital setting and only two reviews stated the inclusion of severe asthma patients. The quality of the systematic reviews was generally low, and this was the major limitation of this overview of systematic reviews. However, solid evidence supports that pharmaceutical care improves health-related outcomes in asthma patients.