Key observations from the NHLBI Asthma Clinical Research Network
- Stanley J Szefler1,
- Vernon M Chinchilli2,
- Elliot Israel3,
- Loren Clark Denlinger4,
- Robert F Lemanske Jr4,
- William Calhoun5,
- Stephen P Peters6,
- for the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute Asthma Clinical Research Network*
- 1Department of Pediatrics, National Jewish Health and University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine, Denver, Colorado, USA
- 2Department of Biostatistics, Penn State University, Hershey, Pennsylvania, USA
- 3Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- 4Department of Medicine and Pediatrics, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
- 5Department of Medicine, University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, Texas, USA
- 6Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA
- Correspondence to Dr Stanley J Szefler, National Jewish Health, Department of Pediatrics, 1400 Jackson St., Rm J304, Denver, CO 80206, USA; szeflers{at}njhealth.org
- Received 7 March 2012
- Accepted 8 March 2012
Abstract
The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) Asthma Clinical Research Network (ACRN) recently completed its work after 20 years of collaboration as a multicentre clinical trial network. When formed, its stated mission was to perform multiple controlled clinical trials for treating patients with asthma by dispassionately examining new and existing therapies, and to rapidly communicate its findings to the medical community. The ACRN conducted 15 major clinical trials. In addition, clinical data, manual of operations, protocols and template informed consents from all ACRN trials are available via NHLBI BioLINCC (https://biolincc.nhlbi.nih.gov/studies/). This network contributed major insights into the use of inhaled corticosteroids, short-acting and long-acting ß-adrenergic agonists, leukotriene receptor antagonists, and novel agents (tiotropium, colchicine and macrolide antibiotics). They also pioneered studies of the variability in drug response, predictors of treatment response and pharmacogenetics. This review highlights the major research observations from the ACRN that have impacted the current management of asthma.
Footnotes
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↵* Principal investigators for NHLBI Asthma Clinical Research Network study sites: Homer A Boushey, MD, William J Calhoun, MD, Mario Castro, MD, Vernon M Chinchilli, PhD, Emily A DiMango, MD, Jeffrey M Drazen MD, James Fish, MD, Jean G Ford, MD, Elliot Israel, MD, Monica Kraft, MD, Robert F Lemanske, Jr, MD, Frank T Leone, MD, Richard P Martin, MD, Stephen R Peters, MD, Stephen I Wasserman, MD. ACRN I (1993–2003) included the following study sites: Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts; National Jewish Medical and Research Center, Denver, Colorado; University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin; Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; University of California, San Francisco, California; Harlem Hospital Center, Columbia University, New York, New York (added in 1996), and Penn State Hershey College of Medicine, Hershey, Pennsylvania (Data Coordinating Center). ACRN II (2003–2011) consisted of the following institutions: Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts; National Jewish Medical and Research Center, Denver, Colorado; University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin; University of California, San Francisco, California; University of California, San Diego, California; University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas; Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina; Washington University, St Louis, Missouri; Columbia University, New York, New York (added in 2006 as a satellite to Brigham and Women's Hospital); Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina (added in 2006 as a satellite to Wake Forest University) and Penn State Hershey College of Medicine, Hershey, Pennsylvania (DCC).
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Funding This study was funded through the following grants: ACRN1: U10 HL051810, U10HL051823, U10 HL051831, U10 HL051834, U10 HL051843, U10 HL051845, and U10 HL056443. ACRN II: U10 HL074225, U10 HL074227, U10 HL074231, U10 HL074204, U10 HL074212, U10 HL074073, U10 HL074206, U10 HL074208, and U10 HL074218.
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Competing interests None.
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Ethics approval Institutional review board at each centre.
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Provenance and peer review Commissioned; internally peer reviewed.
