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ICS, albuterol increased FEV1 in asthma patients

An inhaled corticosteroid administered simultaneously with a dose of inhaled albuterol increased the forced expiratory volume in one second in patients with asthma, according to recent study results.

Researchers from the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine conducted a double blind study on 15 adult nonsmokers with asthma to analyze the change in FEV₁ when patients inhaled a dose of the ICS mometasone or placebo simultaneously with or 30 minutes before albuterol inhalation.

In combination with placebo, albuterol increased the mean FEV₁ by 0.2 L, while in combination with mometasone FEV₁ was increased by 0.32 L (P<.05).

When mometasone or placebo was administered 30 minutes before albuterol, the albuterol-induced change in mean FEV₁ was 0.18 L after placebo and 0.27 L after mometasone.

“Mometasone still enhanced the bronchodilator response to albuterol, but the magnitude of the effect was less and no longer statistically significant,” the researchers wrote.

“To our knowledge, this is the first study to show that a single administration of an ICS can acutely potentiate inhaled albuterol-induced bronchodilation as assessed by spirometry in patients with moderate asthma,” the investigators concluded. “The results of this pilot study will have to be supported by an investigation involving a larger number of patients with a change in FEV₁ as the primary outcome.”

Disclosure: One of the researchers received investigator-initiated academic grants from AstraZeneca, Forest, GlaxoSmithKline and Merck, and serves on the Scientific Advisory Board of Aradigm. All other researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.