- Home
- Medical news & Guidelines
- Anesthesiology
- Cardiology and CTVS
- Critical Care
- Dentistry
- Dermatology
- Diabetes and Endocrinology
- ENT
- Gastroenterology
- Medicine
- Nephrology
- Neurology
- Obstretics-Gynaecology
- Oncology
- Ophthalmology
- Orthopaedics
- Pediatrics-Neonatology
- Psychiatry
- Pulmonology
- Radiology
- Surgery
- Urology
- Laboratory Medicine
- Diet
- Nursing
- Paramedical
- Physiotherapy
- Health news
- AYUSH
- State News
- Andaman and Nicobar Islands
- Andhra Pradesh
- Arunachal Pradesh
- Assam
- Bihar
- Chandigarh
- Chattisgarh
- Dadra and Nagar Haveli
- Daman and Diu
- Delhi
- Goa
- Gujarat
- Haryana
- Himachal Pradesh
- Jammu & Kashmir
- Jharkhand
- Karnataka
- Kerala
- Ladakh
- Lakshadweep
- Madhya Pradesh
- Maharashtra
- Manipur
- Meghalaya
- Mizoram
- Nagaland
- Odisha
- Puducherry
- Punjab
- Rajasthan
- Sikkim
- Tamil Nadu
- Telangana
- Tripura
- Uttar Pradesh
- Uttrakhand
- West Bengal
- Medical Education
- Industry
Azithromycin to remodel airways in patients with severe persistent asthma, study finds
![Azithromycin to remodel airways in patients with severe persistent asthma, study finds Azithromycin to remodel airways in patients with severe persistent asthma, study finds](https://medicaldialogues.in/h-upload/2020/06/18/750x450_130589-azithromycin.webp)
Iran: A recent study in the journal Respiratory Medicine has reported that azithromycin increases bronchial lumen area and lumen radius in patients with severe asthma. Azithromycin, however, did not reduce the bronchial wall thickness.
Azithromycin is an antibiotic used to treat many bacterial and respiratory infections. Recent animal studies showed azithromycin is capable of reducing airway remodeling. However, its effect on human subjects has not been studied yet. Mohammadamin Sadeghdoust, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran, and colleagues aimed to investigate the effect of long-term treatment with azithromycin on airways wall thickness in patients with severe persistent asthma.
The study was designed as a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled clinical trial involving patients with severe persistent asthma. They were given azithromycin (250 mg, BID, three days a week), prednisolone (5 mg, BID), or a placebo for eight months in three separate groups in addition to the standard therapy. The improvement in right upper lobe apical segmental bronchus (RB1) wall thickness obtained by high resolution computed tomography was set as the primary outcome. Secondary outcomes included: cough severity, dyspnea severity, asthma control test (ACT) score, asthma exacerbation rate, pulmonary function tests, and fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FENO).
The results of the study were found to be
• A total of seventy-eight out of ninety randomized subjects completed eight months of treatment with azithromycin (n = 25), prednisolone (n = 27), or placebo (n = 26).
• Bronchial wall thickness percentage did not change significantly in any of the groups. However, the inner radius and lumen area of azithromycin and prednisolone-treated subjects increased significantly.
• Azithromycin also significantly improved the dyspnea severity, ACT score, FENO, and FEV1, FEF25-75, and FEV1/FVC.
• Cough severity or asthma exacerbation rate did not change significantly after eight months of treatment with azithromycin.
Dr Sadeghdoust and team concluded that "Long-term treatment with azithromycin increased lumen radius and lumen area in patients with severe persistent asthma. However, there was no significant change in wall thickness in any of the treatment groups."
For further information: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rmed.2021.106494
Medical Dialogues consists of a team of passionate medical/scientific writers, led by doctors and healthcare researchers. Our team efforts to bring you updated and timely news about the important happenings of the medical and healthcare sector. Our editorial team can be reached at editorial@medicaldialogues.in.
Dr Kamal Kant Kohli-MBBS, DTCD- a chest specialist with more than 30 years of practice and a flair for writing clinical articles, Dr Kamal Kant Kohli joined Medical Dialogues as a Chief Editor of Medical News. Besides writing articles, as an editor, he proofreads and verifies all the medical content published on Medical Dialogues including those coming from journals, studies,medical conferences,guidelines etc. Email: editorial@medicaldialogues.in. Contact no. 011-43720751