Omalizumab: An Optimal Choice for Patients with Severe Allergic Asthma.

Omalizumab is the first monoclonal antibody that was globally approved as a personalized treatment option for patients with moderate-to-severe allergic asthma. This review summarizes the knowledge of almost two decades of use of omalizumab to answer some important everyday clinical practice questions, concerning its efficacy and safety and its association with other asthma-related and drug-related parameters. Evidence suggests that omalizumab improves asthma control and reduces the incidence and frequency of exacerbations in patients with severe allergic asthma. Omalizumab is also effective in those patients in reducing corticosteroid use and healthcare utilization, while it also seems to improve lung function. Several biomarkers have been recognized in predicting its efficacy in its target group of patients, while the optimal duration for evaluating its efficacy is between 16 and 32 weeks.

Increased monocyte count and red cell distribution width as prognostic biomarkers in patients with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis.

BACKGROUND: Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) represents a chronic lung disease with unpredictable course. METHODS: We aimed to investigate prognostic performance of complete blood count parameters in IPF. Treatment-naïve patients with IPF were retrospectively enrolled from two independent cohorts (derivation and validation) and split into subgroups (high and low) based on median baseline monocyte count and red cell distribution width (RDW). RESULTS: Overall, 489 patients (derivation cohort: 300, validation cohort: 189) were analyzed. In the derivation cohort, patients with monocyte count ≥ 0.60 K/µL had significantly lower median FVC%pred [75.0, (95% CI 71.3-76.7) vs. 80.9, (95% CI 77.5-83.1), (P = 0.01)] and DLCO%pred [47.5, (95% CI 44.3-52.3) vs. 53.0, (95% CI 48.0-56.7), (P = 0.02)] than patients with monocyte count < 0.60 K/µL. Patients with RDW ≥ 14.1% had significantly lower median FVC%pred [75.5, (95% CI 71.2-79.2) vs. 78.3, (95% CI 76.0-81.0), (P = 0.04)] and DLCO%pred [45.4, (95% CI 43.3-50.5) vs. 53.0, (95% CI 50.8-56.8), (P = 0.008)] than patients with RDW < 14.1%. Cut-off thresholds from the derivation cohort were applied to the validation cohort with similar discriminatory value, as indicated by significant differences in median DLCO%pred between patients with high vs. low monocyte count [37.8, (95% CI 35.5-41.1) vs. 45.5, (95% CI 41.9-49.4), (P < 0.001)] and RDW [37.9, (95% CI 33.4-40.7) vs. 44.4, (95% CI 41.5-48.9), (P < 0.001)]. Patients with high monocyte count and RDW of the validation cohort exhibited a trend towards lower median FVC%pred (P = 0.09) and significantly lower median FVC%pred (P = 0.001), respectively. Kaplan-Meier analysis in the derivation cohort demonstrated higher all-cause mortality in patients with high (≥ 0.60 K/µL) vs. low monocyte count (< 0.60 K/µL) [HR 2.05, (95% CI 1.19-3.53), (P = 0.01)]. CONCLUSIONS: Increased monocyte count and RDW may represent negative prognostic biomarkers in patients with IPF.

Mepolizumab in Severe Eosinophilic Asthma: A 2-Year Follow-Up in Specialized Asthma Clinics in Greece: An Interim Analysis.

INTRODUCTION: Mepolizumab is a monoclonal antibody against IL-5 for the treatment of severe eosinophilic asthma. The aim of the current study was to present a predesigned interim analysis of the data of patients who have completed 1 year of therapy with mepolizumab. METHODS: This study is a prospective multicenter, noninterventional 2-year observational study and aims to describe the clinical benefit and safety profile of mepolizumab in patients with severe eosinophilic asthma. RESULTS: Compared to the year preceding the initiation of treatment, the annual rate of exacerbations decreased significantly, from 4.3 ± 2.3 to 1.3 ± 1.8; p < 0.0001. Forty-two patients received maintenance dose of oral corticosteroids (OCS) at baseline. From these patients at the end of 1 year of therapy with mepolizumab, 17 patients (40%) had achieved OCS discontinuation. A reduction in the median dose of OCS was also achieved. After 1 year of treatment with mepolizumab, the asthma control test score significantly increased from 16.3 ± 3.7 to 21.2 ± 3.8 (p < 0.0001). This marked clinical improvement was paralleled by a significant reduction of blood eosinophil count. All patients showed a considerable improvement of airflow limitation. In respect to adverse events of treatment with mepolizumab, 19 patients (27%) were recorded to have at least one such occurrence during their 1-year treatment. CONCLUSIONS: We have shown that in patients with severe eosinophilic asthma, 1 year of treatment with mepolizumab was safe, resulted in significant reduction of the annual exacerbation rate, reduction (or even discontinuation) of the needed dose of OCS, and improvements of asthma control and lung function.