Cyclosporin A therapy for severe asthma

Canadian Medical Association Journal 1996; 155: 306

In a double-blind study researchers in Britain randomly assigned 39 patients dependent on oral corticosteroid therapy for severe asthma to receive cyclosporin A (CsA; initial dose 5 mg/kg daily) or a placebo to determine whether CsA therapy could reduce daily corticosteroid requirements. Provided the patient's asthma remained stable or improved, an attempt was made to reduce the prednisolone dosage at 2-week intervals throughout the 36-week treatment period. Based on the lowest dosages maintained for any 2-week period in the last 24 weeks of treatment, the median reduction of prednisolone use was found to be more than twice as great in the CsA group as in the placebo group. Mean morning peak expiratory flow rates increased significantly in the CsA group but were unchanged in the placebo group.

Source: Lock SH, Kay AB, Barnes NC. Double-blind, placebo-controlled study of cyclosporin A as a corticosteroid- sparing agent in corticosteroid-dependent asthma. Am J Respir Crit Care Med 1996; 153: 509-14.

| CMAJ August 1, 1996 (vol 155, no 3) |