Effects of long-acting bronchodilators in COPD patients according to COPD severity and ICS use

SummaryBackgroundIndacaterol is a once-daily, long-acting β2-agonist bronchodilator that improves dyspnoea and health status in patients with moderate-to-severe COPD. While its bronchodilator effects have been shown to be maintained in different patient subgroups, effects on clinical outcomes in certain subgroups are not yet defined.MethodsPost-hoc analysis of pooled clinical study data to investigate efficacy and safety of indacaterol compared with placebo and other long-acting bronchodilators (formoterol, salmeterol, open-label tiotropium) in patient subgroups defined by COPD severity (GOLD stage II or III; n = 4082) and ICS use at baseline (no/yes; n = 4088). Efficacy outcomes were troug…

WITHDRAWN: Scaling up strategies of the Chronic Respiratory Disease programme of the European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing (Action Plan B3 – Area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

Severe Chronic Allergic (and Related) Diseases: A Uniform Approach – A MeDALL – GA<sup>2</sup>LEN – ARIA Position Paper

Concepts of disease severity, activity, control and responsiveness to treatment are linked but different. Severity refers to the loss of function of the organs induced by the disease process or to the occurrence of severe acute exacerbations. Severity may vary over time and needs regular follow-up. Control is the degree to which therapy goals are currently met. These concepts have evolved over time for asthma in guidelines, task forces or consensus meetings. The aim of this paper is to generalize the approach of the uniform definition of severe asthma presented to WHO for chronic allergic and associated diseases (rhinitis, chronic rhinosinusitis, chronic urticaria and atopic dermatitis) in …

Pooled safety analysis of the fixed-dose combination of indacaterol and glycopyrronium (QVA149), its monocomponents, and tiotropium versus placebo in COPD patients

BACKGROUND: To further assess the safety profile of the fixed-dose combination of indacaterol and glycopyrronium (QVA149) and its monocomponents; we investigated the impact of individual patient-level factors and time by integrating the patient-level safety data from the QVA149 clinical programme with relevant information from the independent indacaterol and glycopyrronium safety databases.METHODS: Data from 11,404 patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) were pooled from 14 clinical studies of QVA149, indacaterol and glycopyrronium of ≥3 month's duration with at least two of the treatment groups: QVA149 110/50 μg, glycopyrronium 50 μg, indacaterol 150 μg, placebo or tiotr…

24-h efficacy and pharmacokinetics of tiotropium Respimat® 5 μg in patients with asthma

Background: Once-daily tiotropium Respimat® (tioR) add-on therapy has demonstrated efficacy in patients with moderate symptomatic asthma. Aim and Objectives: To investigate whether dosing regimen (QD vs BID) affected 24-h bronchodilator efficacy and exposure of tioR. Methods: 2 randomised, double-blind, crossover trials (trial 1, NCT01152450 [placebo-controlled]; trial 2, NCT01696071); 4-week treatments of tioR 5 µg QD, 2.5 µg BID and placebo Respimat® (pboR) added to medium-dose ICS (400-800 µg budesonide or equivalent). Primary end point (Week 4): area under the curve response for FEV1 (FEV1 AUC(0-24h)) (trial 1, tioR vs pboR; trial 2, QD vs BID). Pharmacokinetic end points (steady state)…

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 …