Omalizumab reduces oral corticosteroid use in patients with severe allergic asthma: Real-life data

SummaryBackgroundLong-term oral corticosteroid (OCS) therapy is associated with significant burden on patients and healthcare resources; treatments that may help reduce their use are important to improve asthma management.MethodsFrench and German clinicians prescribing omalizumab for >16 weeks to patients with severe persistent allergic asthma collected OCS use data. OCS use was recorded at baseline and at a non-specific time point beyond 16 weeks from initiation of omalizumab. The number of asthma exacerbations (FEV1 16 weeks. Of these, 166 (48.0%) were receiving maintenance OCS (France, n = 64; Germany, n = 102). Following omalizumab therapy, 84 (50.6%) patients on OCS at baseline reduced…

European Real-Life Experience Of Omalizumab (Xolair) And Maintenance Oral Corticosteroid Use In Patients With Severe Persistent Allergic Asthma

Muscarinic M2 receptors in acetylcholine-isoproterenol functional antagonism in human isolated bronchus

The muscarinic functional antagonism of isoproterenol relaxation and the contribution of muscarinic M2 receptors were examined in human isolated bronchus. In intact tissues, acetylcholine (ACh) precontraction decreased isoproterenol potency and maximal relaxation (−log EC50 shift = −1.49 ± 0.16 and Emax inhibition for 100 μM ACh = 30%) more than the same levels of histamine contraction. The M2receptor-selective antagonist methoctramine (1 μM) reduced this antagonism in ACh- but not histamine-contracted tissues. Similar results were obtained for forskolin-induced relaxation. After selective inactivation of M3 receptors with 4-diphenylacetoxy- N-(2-chloroethyl)piperadine hydrochloric acid (3…

WITHDRAWN: Scaling up strategies of the Chronic Respiratory Disease programme of the European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing (Action Plan B3 – Area 5)

Spacers and Valved Holding Chambers—The Risk of Switching to Different Chambers

© 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

Cabbage and fermented vegetables: from death rate heterogeneity in countries to candidates for mitigation strategies of severe COVID-19

International audience; Large differences in COVID-19 death rates exist between countries and between regions of the same country. Some very low death rate countries such as Eastern Asia, Central Europe, or the Balkans have a common feature of eating large quantities of fermented foods. Although biases exist when examining ecological studies, fermented vegetables or cabbage have been associated with low death rates in European countries. SARS-CoV-2 binds to its receptor, the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). As a result of SARS-CoV-2 binding, ACE2 downregulation enhances the angiotensin II receptor type 1 (AT1 R) axis associated with oxidative stress. This leads to insulin resistance …