Source: Annual Congress 2002 - Asthma - Therapy and management -3
Disease area: Airway diseases

Abstract

The treatment of severe steroid-dependant asthma is a very serious problem. Previously in the randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled 5-year study with 52 patients enrolled we demonstrated, that our new method of severe asthma treatment with inhalations of very low doses (0,1 mg/day for 5 days) of alkylating drug (Melphalan) has beneficial clinical effect. Based on laboratory and clinical data we concluded that inhalations of ultra-low doses of Melphalan have the anti-inflammatory effect (proved with clinical, endoscopic, immunological and morphological parameters), in most cases (69%) resulting in bronchial epithelium regeneration and clinical improvement. The average duration of positive effect in Melphalan-treated group after the treatment was 6 months. No side-effects were observed during the study. Based on these data the second course of inhalations of very low doses of Melphalan was administered for 4 patients with severe steroid-dependant asthma after 1 year of the initial course. In all these patients we observed the same clinical improvement, as after the first course of inhalations: reducing the exacerbation frequency, reducing the number of β-agonist inhalations, increasing the tolerance of physical load, improvement of lung ventilation parameters. These positive changes correlated with laboratory data. The duration of positive effect in these group after the second course of treatment was from 4 to 9 months (on an average 7 months).
These data suggest, that periodical courses of inhalations of very low doses of alkylating drug may be proposed as the possible way of gaining the control over severe steroid-dependant bronchial asthma, and further investigations of this problem are necessary.

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K. A. Zykov, V. I. Shevelev, L. Y. Matko, A. I. Veshkina, E. I. Sokolov (Moscow, Russia). Gaining the control over severe asthma with the inhalations of very low doses of alkylating drug. Eur Respir J 2002; 20: Suppl. 38, 448

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