Hyaluronan (HA) is an important constituent of the extracellular matrix and accumulates during inflammatory lung diseases like asthma. Little is known about the factors that regulate HA synthesis by lung cells. Accordingly, we investigated the effect of T-helper 1 (TH1) and 2 (TH2) cytokines and the anti-inflammatory agents fluticasone and salmeterol on HA synthesis in human lung fibroblasts. I...

The objective of this study was to evaluate the potency and efficacy (intrinsic activity) of formoterol and salmeterol and their duration of action in comparison with other beta-adrenoceptor agonists in isolated human bronchi. Human bronchi were obtained at thoracotomy from patients with lung cancer. Potency (-log of the concentration of drug inducing 50% of maximal relaxation (-log EC50)) and ...

New long-acting beta 2-adrenoceptor agonists, salmeterol and formoterol, have recently been marketed for treatment of asthma, but studies comparing the clinical efficacy of the two drugs have not been published. We report on an asthmatic patient who had a striking difference in bronchodilating effect of the two drugs, formoterol being more effective than salmeterol both in immediate response an...

Few studies have shown that the endurance shuttle walking test (ESWT) is responsive to treatment in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). This exercise test needs to be further investigated because of its relevance for activity of daily living. The aim of the present study was to evaluate, in patients with COPD, the responsiveness of the ESWT in detecting improvement in wa...

BACKGROUND A case-control study was undertaken to investigate the hypothesis that the use of the long acting beta agonist salmeterol increases the risk of a near-fatal attack of asthma. METHODS The cases comprised admissions to the intensive care unit (ICU) for asthma in 14 major hospitals within the Wessex region in 1992. For each of the cases four age-matched controls were selected from ast...

Phosphodiesterase (PDE)4 inhibition attenuates neutrophilic inflammation in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The objective of the present study was to examine the efficacy and mechanism by which PDE4 inhibition blocks adhesion of beta(2)-integrin to an endothelial counterligand. Neutrophils (polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs)) were isolated from humans receiving no medication. Adhesion w...

OBJECTIVE To examine the benefits of adding salmeterol compared with increasing dose of inhaled corticosteroids. DESIGN Systematic review of randomised, double blind clinical trials. Independent data extraction and validation with summary data from study reports and manuscripts. Fixed and random effects analyses. SETTING EMBASE, Medline, and GlaxoWellcome internal clinical study registers. ...

Objective To investigate the occurrence of pneumonia and pneumonia related events in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) treated with two different fixed combinations of inhaled corticosteroid/long acting β2 agonist. DesignObservational retrospective pairwise cohort study matched (1:1) for propensity score. Setting Primary care medical records data linked to Swedish hospi...

BACKGROUND Previous studies on inhaled steroid and long-acting beta2-agonist combination products may not be representative for the asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients in family practice. OBJECTIVES To compare in a group of doctor-diagnosed patients with asthma or COPD, the effects of a lower dose of fluticasone in a combination product with salmeterol with conven...

BACKGROUND The combination of inhaled corticosteroids and long-acting inhaled beta(2)-adrenergic-agonists has become the standard therapy for many patients with moderate to severe persistent asthma. Whether the differences between budesonide/formoterol and fluticasone/salmeterol translate into differences in treatment outcomes in a real life setting is unknown. OBJECTIVES This study compared ...