Corticosteroid sparing agents in asthma.

The oral corticosteroid-sparing effect of omalizumab in children with severe asthma.

OBJECTIVE To report the oral corticosteroid-sparing effect of omalizumab in children with severe asthma. DESIGN 16-week therapeutic trial. SETTING Tertiary paediatric asthma clinic. PATIENTS 34 children with severe asthma maintained on oral prednisolone (median age 12 years; 15 children <12 years and 19 children ≥12 years). INTERVENTIONS Fortnightly or monthly subcutaneous injections of...

Oral corticosteroid-sparing effects of inhaled corticosteroids in the treatment of persistent and acute asthma.

OBJECTIVE To review the efficacy and safety of inhaled corticosteroids (ICSs) when used to reduce daily oral corticosteroid (OCS) requirements in patients with severe persistent asthma and periodic requirements in patients with acute asthma exacerbations. DATA SOURCES Clinical studies of the OCS-sparing effects of ICSs were located by searching MEDLINE databases from 1966 onward using the ter...

Methotrexate as an oral corticosteroid-sparing agent in severe asthma: the emergence of a responder asthma endotype

BACKGROUND Sustained use of oral corticosteroids is associated with significant side effects. It is therefore of interest to find a corticosteroid-sparing agent. In two meta-analyses, methotrexate resulted in a rather small reduction in the oral corticosteroid maintenance dose. We have used methotrexate as an oral corticosteroid-sparing agent in consecutive patients with severe bronchial asthma...

Inhaled corticosteroid dosage in asthma.

Corticosteroid resistance in chronic asthma.

Fifty-eight patients with chronic asthma in whom airflow obstruction was relieved by bronchodilator aerosols but not by oral corticosteroids were compared with 58 other chronic asthmatics who responded equally well to both treatments. The two groups were matched for age and sex. The only significant clinical differences between the two groups were that in the "corticosteroid-resistant" patients...