Bronchial thermoplasty (BT) is a bronchoscopic treatment for severe asthma targeting airway smooth muscle (ASM). Observational studies have shown ASM mass reduction after BT, but appropriate control ...groups are lacking. Furthermore, as treatment response is variable, identifying optimal candidates for BT treatment is important.
First, to assess the effect of BT on ASM mass, and second, to identify patient characteristics that correlate with BT response.
Patients with severe asthma (
= 40) were randomized to immediate (
= 20) or delayed (
= 20) BT treatment. Before randomization, clinical, functional, blood, and airway biopsy data were collected. In the delayed control group, reassessment, including biopsies, was performed after 6 months of standard clinical care, followed by BT. In both groups, post-BT data including biopsies were obtained after 6 months. ASM mass (% positive desmin or α-smooth muscle actin area in the total biopsy) was calculated with automated digital analysis software. Associations between baseline characteristics and Asthma Control Questionnaire and Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire (AQLQ) improvement were explored.
Median ASM mass decreased by >50% in the immediate BT group (
= 17) versus no change in the delayed control group (
= 19) (
= 0.0004). In the immediate group, Asthma Control Questionnaire scores improved with -0.79 (interquartile range IQR, -1.61 to 0.02) compared with 0.09 (IQR, -0.25 to 1.17) in the delayed group (
= 0.006). AQLQ scores improved with 0.83 (IQR, -0.15 to 1.69) versus -0.02 (IQR, -0.77 to 0.75) (
= 0.04). Treatment response in the total group (
= 35) was positively associated with serum IgE and eosinophils but not with baseline ASM mass.
ASM mass significantly decreases after BT when compared with a randomized non-BT-treated control group. Treatment response was associated with serum IgE and eosinophil levels but not with ASM mass.
Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a monogenetic disease caused by mutations in the gene encoding the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) protein and affecting multiple organs, including ...the lungs and liver. Almost 90% of people affected carry at least 1 Phe508del CFTR mutation. Medical treatment with the CFTR-modulating drug elexacaftor-tezacaftor-ivacaftor (ETI) has been proven to be efficacious in carriers of at least 1 Phe508del CFTR mutation. Use of ETI in patients with CF (pwCF) and liver cirrhosis is still controversial. Therefore, stepwise introduction of ETI in pwCF and liver cirrhosis Child-Pugh A or B was evaluated using clinical and therapeutic drug monitoring.
Seven consecutive pwCF received ETI. Four dosing steps were defined, at each of which the patients underwent clinical examination, routine blood tests, and therapeutic drug monitoring. Exposure of elexacaftor, tezacaftor, and ivacaftor was assessed by means of determination of AUC.
ETI was successfully introduced and maintained in all pwCF. In those with Child-Pugh B cirrhosis (n = 2), diminishment of the dose as recommended by the label resulted in AUC values that were lower than the mean AUC values in pwCF without hepatic impairment, as reported previously.
Despite the limitations of this small case series, stepwise elevation of ETI dose did not induce clinical adverse effects or increases in serum liver test results under strict clinical follow-up and therapeutic drug monitoring, and may allow tolerable introduction of this therapy in pwCF and cirrhosis Child-Pugh A and possibly B.
It is unclear whether asthma and asthma medications increase or decrease the risk of severe COVID-19, and this is particularly true for patients with severe asthma receiving biologics.
The aim of ...this study was to assess incidence and disease course of COVID-19 in patients with severe asthma on biologic therapy (omalizumab, mepolizumab, reslizumab, benralizumab, dupilumab), as compared with COVID-19 data from the general Dutch population.
COVID-19 cases were identified through a prospective ongoing survey between March 17 and April 30, 2020 among all severe asthma specialists from 15 hospitals of the Dutch Severe Asthma Registry RAPSODI. From these cases, data was collected on patient characteristics, including co-morbidities, COVID-19 disease progression and asthma exacerbations. Findings were then compared with COVID-19 data from the general Dutch population.
Of 634 severe asthma patients who received biologic therapy in RAPSODI, 9 (1.4%) were diagnosed with COVID-19. Seven patients (1.1%) required hospitalization for oxygen therapy, of which 5 were admitted to the intensive care for intubation and mechanical ventilation. One patient died (0.16%). All intubated patients had ≥1 co-morbidities. Odds (95%CI) for COVID-19 related hospitalization and intubations were 14 (6.6–29.5) and 41 (16.9–98.5) times higher, respectively, compared to the Dutch population. One patient presented with an asthma exacerbation.
Patients with severe asthma using biologic therapy showed to have a more severe course of COVID-19 compared to the general population. This may be due to co-morbidities, the severity of asthmatic airway inflammation, the use of biologics, or a combination of these.
•Severe asthma patients on biologics might be more susceptible for COVID-19.•SARS-CoV-2 is not an important trigger for asthma exacerbations in these patients.•Severe COVID-19 may be more frequent in asthma patients on biologic therapy.•Contributing factors may be the commonly observed co-morbidities such as obesity.
Patients with severe asthma not meeting the strict trial eligibility criteria for mepolizumab are now routinely treated with this biological in clinical practice, but it remains unclear whether these ...ineligible patients respond differently to mepolizumab treatment.
This study investigated the extent and reasons for trial ineligibility of real-life, mepolizumab-treated patients with severe asthma and compared the characteristics of these patients with trial populations. Subsequently, therapeutic response in ineligible patients was assessed on the basis of oral corticosteroid (OCS) reduction.
Trial eligibility, population differences, and therapeutic response were assessed using the baseline characteristics of mepolizumab-receiving patients with severe asthma treated in the Amsterdam University Medical Centres and OCS dose at 6 months for OCS-dependent patients extracted from patients' electronic health records. Eligibility criteria and population characteristics from trials investigating mepolizumab were extracted from their original publications.
A total of 82.4% of 119 mepolizumab-receiving, real-life patients with severe asthma were ineligible for trial inclusion, wherein 42.9% and 39.5% were excluded on the basis of inclusion and exclusion criteria, respectively. The clinical care population was older, more often male and demonstrating a better lung function under lower OCS maintenance dosages in comparison with trial populations. A total of 50% of 66 ineligible, OCS-dependent mepolizumab-treated patients were able to reduce their maintenance OCS dosage to ≤5 mg prednisone/day.
A large proportion of the real-life, mepolizumab-treated population with severe asthma would be excluded from trial participation, and significant differences in population characteristics exist. Regardless, a large fraction of ineligible patients in clinical care can reduce maintenance OCS dosage under mepolizumab therapy.
Reslizumab, a biologic targeting IL-5, has been shown to reduce asthma exacerbations and maintenance oral corticosteroid use in randomized controlled trials and pre-post studies in patients with ...severe eosinophilic asthma. However, real-world effectiveness data of reslizumab are scarce, and it is unknown whether reslizumab has added value after switching from another type 2 biologic.
To evaluate (1) the real-world effectiveness of reslizumab on severe asthma exacerbations, maintenance oral corticosteroid use, and overall treatment response, both in biologic-naive patients who initiated reslizumab and in those who switched from another type 2 biologic; and (2) physicians’ experience with reslizumab treatment.
This observational real-world study evaluated data from 134 adults with severe eosinophilic asthma included in the Dutch severe asthma registry (RAPSODI), who initiated reslizumab treatment (4-weekly infusions, 0.3 mg/kg) before April 2020 and had follow-up data for 6 months and greater. Clinical asthma experts completed surveys on their experience with reslizumab treatment.
Overall, reslizumab reduced the exacerbation rate (odds ratio 95% CI = 0.10 0.05-0.21; P < .001), oral corticosteroid use (OR 95% CI, 0.2 0.0-0.5; P < .001), and maintenance dose (median CI, 5.0 0.0-10.0 to 0.0 0.0-5.0; P < .001), with comparable results in biologic-naive reslizumab initiators and switchers. The overall response to reslizumab was graded good or excellent in 59.2% of patients. The additive effectiveness of reslizumab after switching from another biologic was reflected in physicians’ surveys.
Real-world data show that reslizumab reduces severe asthma exacerbations and oral corticosteroid use in patients with severe eosinophilic asthma, both in biologic-naive reslizumab initiators and in those who switched from another type 2 biologic. This additional value of reslizumab was recognized by clinical asthma experts.
The mechanism of action of bronchial thermoplasty (BT) treatment for patients with severe asthma is incompletely understood. This study investigated the 2.5-year impact of BT on airway smooth muscle ...(ASM) mass and clinical parameters by paired data analysis in 22 patients. Our findings demonstrate the persistence of ASM mass reduction of >50% after 2.5 years. Furthermore, sustained improvement in asthma control, quality of life and exacerbation rates was found, which is in line with previous reports. An association was found between the remaining ASM and both the exacerbation rate (r=0.61, p=0.04 for desmin, r=0.85, p<0.01 for alpha smooth muscle actin (SMA)) and post-bronchodilator forced expiratory volume in 1 s predicted percentage (r=-0.69, p=0.03 for desmin, r=-0.58, p=0.08 for alpha SMA). This study provides new insight into the long-term impact of BT.
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Airway remodeling is a prominent feature of asthma, including increased airway smooth muscle (ASM) mass and altered extracellular matrix (ECM) composition. Bronchial thermoplasty ...(BT), a bronchoscopic treatment for severe asthma, targets this airway remodeling.
To investigate the effect of BT on ECM composition and its association with clinical outcomes.
This is a sub-study of the TASMA trial. Thirty severe asthma patients were BT treated, of which 13 patients prior to BT were treated by six months of standard therapy (control group). Demographic data, clinical data including pulmonary function and bronchial biopsies were collected. Biopsies at BT treated and non-treated locations were analyzed by histological and immune-histochemical staining. Associations between histology and clinical outcomes were explored.
Six months after treatment, reticular basement membrane (RBM) thickness was reduced from 7.28μm to 5.74μm (21% relative reduction) and the percentage area of tissue positive for collagen increased from 26.3% to 29.8% (13% relative increase). Collagen structure analysis revealed a reduction in the curvature frequency of fibers. The percentage area positive for fibulin-1 and fibronectin increased with 2.5% and 5.9% respectively (relative increase of 124% and 15%). No changes were found for elastin. The changes in collagen and fibulin-1 negatively associated with changes in FEV1-reversibility.
Next to ASM reduction, BT impacts RBM thickness and the ECM arrangement characterized by an increase in tissue area occupied by collagen with a less dense fiber organization. Both collagen and fibulin-1 are negatively associated with the change in FEV1-reversibility.
BT induces ECM reorganization and airway wall stability.
Bronchial thermoplasty (BT) is a bronchoscopic treatment for severe asthma. Although multiple trials have demonstrated clinical improvement after BT, optimal patient selection remains a challenge and ...the mechanism of action is incompletely understood.
The aim of this study was to examine whether exhaled breath analysis can contribute to discriminate between BT-responders and non-responders at baseline and to explore pathophysiological insights of BT.
Exhaled breath was collected from patients at baseline and six months post-BT. Patients were defined as responders or non-responders based on a half point increase in asthma quality of life questionnaire scores. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry was used for volatile organic compounds (VOCs) detection and analyses. Analytical workflow consisted of: 1) detection of VOCs that differentiate between responders and non-responders and those that differ between baseline and six months post-BT, 2) identification of VOCs of interest and 3) explore correlations between clinical biomarkers and VOCs.
Data was available from 14 patients. Nonanal, 2-ethylhexanol and 3-thujol showed a significant difference in intensity between responders and non-responders at baseline (p = 0.04, p = 0.01 and p = 0.03, respectively). After BT, no difference was found in the compound intensity of these VOCs. A negative correlation was observed between nonanal and IgE and BALF eosinophils (r = −0.68, p < 0.01 and r = −0.61, p = 0.02 respectively) and 3-thujol with BALF neutrophils (r = −0.54, p = 0.04).
This explorative study identified discriminative VOCs in exhaled breath between BT responders and non-responders at baseline. Additionally, correlations were found between VOC's and inflammatory BALF cells. Once validated, these findings encourage research in breath analysis as a non-invasive easy to apply technique for identifying airway inflammatory profiles and eligibility for BT or immunotherapies in severe asthma.
•Breath differentiates bronchial thermoplasty responders from non-responders.•Volatile organic compounds correlate with inflammatory cells in BALF.•Breath analysis could identify bronchial thermoplasty candidates.
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