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Impact of an increase in the inhaled corticosteroid dose on blood eosinophils in asthma
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  • Published on:
    Effect of inhaled corticosteroid dose on blood eosinophils
    • Brian Lipworth, Pulmonologist Scottish Centre for Respiratory Research
    • Other Contributors:
      • Sunny Jabbal, Pulmonologist
      • Chris Kuo, Pulomonologist

    Lommatzsch et al1 report significant falls in blood eosinophils in 11 asthma patients (mean FEV1 87%) in response to increasing the dose of inhaled corticosteroid from 1000ug to 2000ug/day (beclometasone equivalent dose ) ,with a median difference of 240 cells/ul . Jabbal et al 2 reported in 217 asthma patients (FEV1 85%) a mean fall of 71 cells/ul (95%CI 38-105) comparing 200ug verses 800ug belcometasone equivalent dose ,along with a 14.5ppb (95%CI 7.9-22.1) fall in FeNO. The patients reported by Lommatzsch et al had a higher baseline level of eosinophils with a median value of 560 cells/ul as compared to a mean value 356 cells/ul for Jabbal et al . Nonetheless we agree with the conclusion that the prevailing inhaled corticosteroid dose should be taken into consideration when making decisions to initiate treatment with biologics such as anti-IL5 and anti-IL4α, where the response is determined by levels of blood eosinophils .

    References

    1. Lommatzsch M, Klein M, Stoll P, Virchow JC. Impact of an increase in the inhaled corticosteroid dose on blood eosinophils in asthma. Thorax 2018. doi:10.1136/thoraxjnl-2018-212233
    2. Jabbal S, Lipworth BJ. Blood eosinophils: The forgotten man of inhaled steroid dose titration. Clin Exp Allergy 2018; 48:93-5.

    Conflict of Interest:
    None declared.