Black Individuals With Asthma May Not Benefit From Improved Inhaled Corticosteroid

Adding a long-acting beta-agonist (LABA) may not improve rate of asthma exacerbation among black adults when treated with an inhaled corticosteroid (ICS), revealed a new study.

The study published in the Journal JAMA compared the effects of a long-acting beta-agonist with the anticholinergic tiotropium that are added to asthma patients with poor asthma control on low-dose ICS. The study was led by Michael E. Wechsler, of National Jewish Health and Denver, and Elliot Israel of Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

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They conducted the study on black adults suffering from moderate to severe asthma. Patients were administered with ICS plus either once-daily tiotropium or twice-daily LABAs. They were followed for 18 months and also underwent genetic testing.

The results found that LABA + ICS was not superior to tiotropium + ICS for secondary outcomes and black individuals may not benefit from LABAs to the same degree as individuals of other races.

"These findings do not support the superiority of LABA + ICS compared with tiotropium + ICS for black patients with asthma. Although we could not detect a difference in exacerbations between either combination therapy, we found that, despite combination therapy, this population experienced a high rate of exacerbation. Additional targeted interventions and further study are needed to reduce the rate of asthma exacerbation in this population," wrote the authors.

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Source-Medindia

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