Asthma and Macrolide Antibiotics
A recent study in Washington healthcare facilities has shown that a particular type of antibiotic drugs, called macrolides can cause an overall improvement to patients suffering from severe forms of asthma. These findings have opened a door to a new way of treating asthma that was unknown before and may be effectively used in conjunction with ordinary asthma medications to improve their effectiveness.
The modern concept of asthma highlights a particular cell type called eosinophils as the primary factor of disease development and the majority of asthma medications were created to influence the level of these particular cells in the organism. However, the recent studies have shown that a part of patients with different stages of asthma have a level of eosinophils equal to that of healthy individuals. The same studies have traced the increase of neutrophil inflammatory cell level in the organism in some cases of asthma, which can be used as one of the possible asthma indicators.
The study involving macrolide antibiotics enrolled 45 patients with different types of asthma. They were given an increased dose of ordinary asthma medication in the form of inhaled corticosteroids with the addition of macrolide antibiotics. After an eight week course the results were closely analyzed and showed that the macrolide antibiotics have contributed significantly to the decrease of inflammation in the airways and have generally improved the conditions of the patients.
Treatment with macrolide antibiotics was most beneficial to patients with non-eosinophilic type of asthma with the best results in this particular group. The use of macrolide antibiotics has also lead to the reduction of neutrophil cell level in the test participants. These results may lead to significant changes in asthma treatment and provide an aid to patients with poor asthma control.
The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) have recently announced the biggest clinical study of asthma treatment in the world with the use of macrolide antibiotics. The study will enroll a total of 2.9 million patients and take place next year in five areas: Newcastle, Perth, Adelaide And two in Brisbane. It is a logical continuation of the previous clinical test and is designed to investigate the effectiveness of macrolides like Zithromax in cases of non-eosinophilic asthma. Entitled The Asthma and Macrolides: Azithromycin Efficacy and Safety (AMAZES) this research will surely gather numerous data and give doctors all over the world an additional possibility of asthma treatments.
