Archivos de bronconeumología
-
Despite the administration of appropriate treatment, a high number of patients with asthma remain uncontrolled. This suggests the need for alternative treatments that are effective, safe and selective for the established asthma phenotypes, especially in patients with uncontrolled severe asthma. The most promising options among the new asthma treatments in development are biological therapies, particularly those monoclonal antibodies directed at selective targets. ⋯ Among developing therapies, biologics designed to block certain pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as IL-5 (mepolizumab) and IL-13 (lebrikizumab), have a greater chance of being used in the clinic. Perhaps blocking more than one cytokine pathway (such as IL-4 and IL-13 with dulipumab) might confer increased efficacy of treatment, along with acceptable safety. Stratification of asthma based on the predominant pathogenic mechanisms of each patient (phenoendotypes) is slowly, but probably irreversibly, emerging as a tailored medical approach to asthma, and is becoming a key factor in the development of drugs for this complex respiratory syndrome.
-
Arch. Bronconeumol. · Aug 2014
Comparative Study Observational StudyDistribution of clinical phenotypes in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease caused by biomass and tobacco smoke.
Exposure to biomass smoke is a risk factor for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). It is unknown whether COPD caused by biomass smoke has different characteristics to COPD caused by tobacco smoke. ⋯ Differences were observed between COPD caused by biomass and COPD caused by tobacco smoke, although these may be attributed in part to uneven gender distribution between the groups.