You are seeing this message because your Web browser does not support basic Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing and what you can do to make your experience on this site better.


ABOUT JAMA
Advanced Search

Welcome   | My Account | E-mail Alerts | Access Rights | Sign In


  Vol. 285 No. 20, May 23, 2001 TABLE OF CONTENTS
  JAMA
  •  Online Features
  Original Contribution
 This Article
 •Full text
 •PDF
 •Send to a friend
 • Save in My Folder
 •Save to citation manager
 •Permissions
 Citing Articles
 •Citation map
 •Citing articles on HighWire
 •Citing articles on ISI (148)
 •Contact me when this article is cited
 Related Content
 •Related letter
 •Related articles
 •Similar articles in JAMA
 Topic Collections
 •Pulmonary Diseases
 •Asthma
 •Randomized Controlled Trial
 •Immunology
 •Allergy
 •Alert me on articles by topic
 Social Bookmarking
  Add to CiteULike Add to Connotea Add to Del.icio.us Add to Digg Add to Reddit Add to Technorati
What's this?

Long-Acting {beta}2-Agonist Monotherapy vs Continued Therapy With Inhaled Corticosteroids in Patients With Persistent Asthma

A Randomized Controlled Trial

Stephen C. Lazarus, MD; Homer A. Boushey, MD; John V. Fahy, MD; Vernon M. Chinchilli, PhD; Robert F. Lemanske, Jr, MD; Christine A. Sorkness, PharmD; Monica Kraft, MD; James E. Fish, MD; Stephen P. Peters, MD, PhD; Timothy Craig, DO; Jeffrey M. Drazen, MD; Jean G. Ford, MD; Elliot Israel, MD; Richard J. Martin, MD; Elizabeth A. Mauger, PhD; Sami A. Nachman, MD; Joseph D. Spahn, MD; Stanley J. Szefler, MD; for the Asthma Clinical Research Network of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

JAMA. 2001;285:2583-2593.

Context  Long-acting {beta}2-agonists are prescribed for patients with persistent asthma and are sometimes used without inhaled corticosteroids (ICSs). No evidence exists, however, to support their use as monotherapy in adults with persistent asthma.

Objective  To examine the effectiveness of salmeterol xinafoate, a long-acting {beta}2-agonist, as replacement therapy in patients whose asthma is well controlled by low-dose triamcinolone acetonide, an ICS.

Design and Setting  A 28-week, randomized, blinded, placebo-controlled, parallel group trial conducted at 6 National Institutes of Health–sponsored, university-based ambulatory care centers from February 1997 to January 1999.

Participants  One hundred sixty-four patients aged 12 through 65 years with persistent asthma that was well controlled during a 6-week run-in period of treatment with inhaled triamcinolone (400 µg twice per day).

Interventions  Patients were randomly assigned to continue triamcinolone therapy (400 µg twice per day; n = 54) or switch to salmeterol (42 µg twice per day; n = 54) or to placebo (n = 56) for 16 weeks, after which all patients received placebo for an additional 6-week run-out period.

Main Outcome Measures  Change in morning and evening peak expiratory flow (PEF), forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1), self-assessed asthma symptom scores, rescue albuterol use, asthma-specific quality-of-life scores, treatment failure, asthma exacerbation, bronchial reactivity, and markers of airway inflammation, compared among the 3 treatment groups.

Results  During the 16-week randomized treatment period, no significant differences between the salmeterol and triamcinolone groups were observed for conventional outcomes of clinical studies of asthma therapy—morning PEF, evening PEF, asthma symptom scores, rescue albuterol sulfate use, or quality of life. Both active treatments were superior to placebo. However, the salmeterol group had more treatment failures than the triamcinolone group (13/54 [24%] vs 3/54 [6%]; P = .004), as well as more asthma exacerbations (11/54 [20%] vs 4/54 [7%]; P = .04), greater increases in median (interquartile range) sputum eosinophils (2.4% [0.0% to 10.6%] vs -0.1% [-0.7% to 0.3%]; P<.001), eosinophil cationic protein (71 [-2 to 430] U/L vs -4 [-31 to 56] U/L; P = .005), and tryptase (3.1 [2.1 to 7.6] ng/mL vs 0.0 [0.0 to 0.7] ng/mL; P<.001). The duration of benefit when patients were switched from active treatment to placebo after 22 weeks of randomized treatment was not significantly longer in the triamcinolone group than in the salmeterol group.

Conclusions  Patients with persistent asthma well controlled by low doses of triamcinolone cannot be switched to salmeterol monotherapy without risk of clinically significant loss of asthma control.


Author Affiliations: University of California, San Francisco (Drs Lazarus, Boushey, and Fahy); Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, Hershey, Pa (Drs Chinchilli, Craig, and Mauger); University of Wisconsin Medical School (Dr Lemanske) and School of Pharmacy (Dr Sorkness), Madison; National Jewish Medical and Research Center, Denver, Colo (Drs Kraft, Martin, Spahn, and Szefler); Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, Pa (Drs Fish and Peters); Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass (Drs Drazen and Israel); and Harlem Hospital Center, New York, NY (Drs Ford and Nachman).



Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati     What's this?

RELATED LETTER

Salmeterol and Inhaled Corticosteroids in Patients With Persistent Asthma
Jeffrey R. Botkin, Ellen Clayton, Robert Nelson, Benjamin Wilfond, Mark A. Munger, Franklin G. Miller, Andrew F. Shorr, Lainie Friedman Ross, Stephen J. Fowler, Brian J. Lipworth, Stephen C. Lazarus, and Robert F. Lemanske, Jr
JAMA. 2001;286(24):3075-3078.
EXTRACT | FULL TEXT  

RELATED ARTICLES

Inhaled Corticosteroid Reduction and Elimination in Patients With Persistent Asthma Receiving Salmeterol: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Robert F. Lemanske, Jr, Christine A. Sorkness, Elizabeth A. Mauger, Stephen C. Lazarus, Homer A. Boushey, John V. Fahy, Jeffrey M. Drazen, Vernon M. Chinchilli, Timothy Craig, James E. Fish, Jean G. Ford, Elliot Israel, Monica Kraft, Richard J. Martin, Sami A. Nachman, Stephen P. Peters, Joseph D. Spahn, Stanley J. Szefler, and for the Asthma Clinical Research Network of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
JAMA. 2001;285(20):2594-2603.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Therapeutic Options for Persistent Asthma
Stephen T. Holgate
JAMA. 2001;285(20):2637-2639.
EXTRACT | FULL TEXT  

May 23/30, 2001
JAMA. 2001;285(20):2655-2656.
EXTRACT | FULL TEXT  


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

An Official American Thoracic Society/European Respiratory Society Statement: Asthma Control and Exacerbations: Standardizing Endpoints for Clinical Asthma Trials and Clinical Practice
Reddel et al.
Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. 2009;180:59-99.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Antiinflammatory Effects of Long-Acting {beta}2-Agonists in Patients With Asthma: A Systematic Review and Metaanalysis
Sindi et al.
Chest 2009;136:145-154.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

The {beta}-Agonist Saga and Its Clinical Relevance: On and On It Goes
Taylor
Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. 2009;179:976-978.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Asthma Therapies Revisited: What Have We Learned?
Lemanske
Proc Am Thorac Soc 2009;6:312-315.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Effect of formoterol with or without budesonide in repeated low-dose allergen challenge
Dahlen et al.
Eur Respir J 2009;33:747-753.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Asthma
Fanta
NEJM 2009;360:1002-1014.
FULL TEXT  

The Brussels Declaration: the need for change in asthma management
Holgate et al.
Eur Respir J 2008;32:1433-1442.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Daclizumab Improves Asthma Control in Patients with Moderate to Severe Persistent Asthma: A Randomized, Controlled Trial
Busse et al.
Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. 2008;178:1002-1008.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

A new perspective on concepts of asthma severity and control
Taylor et al.
Eur Respir J 2008;32:545-554.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Review: Evaluating combination therapies for asthma: pros, cons, and comparative benefits
Bjermer
Ther Adv Respir Dis 2008;2:149-161.
ABSTRACT  

Global strategy for asthma management and prevention: GINA executive summary
Bateman et al.
Eur Respir J 2008;31:143-178.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Differentiating COPD From Asthma in Clinical Practice
Chang and Mosenifar
J Intensive Care Med 2007;22:300-309.
ABSTRACT  

Randomized Comparison of Strategies for Reducing Treatment in Mild Persistent Asthma
The American Lung Association Asthma Clinical Rese
NEJM 2007;356:2027-2039.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Rescue Use of Beclomethasone and Albuterol in a Single Inhaler for Mild Asthma
Papi et al.
NEJM 2007;356:2040-2052.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Ethical Issues Confronted In Pulmonary Clinical Trials
Wise
Proc Am Thorac Soc 2007;4:200-205.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Combination Therapy with a Long-Acting beta-Agonist and a Leukotriene Antagonist in Moderate Asthma
Deykin et al.
Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. 2007;175:228-234.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Sequence, Haplotype, and Association Analysis of ADRbeta2 in a Multiethnic Asthma Case-Control Study
Hawkins et al.
Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. 2006;174:1101-1109.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Safety and effectiveness of long-acting inhaled beta-agonist bronchodilators when taken with inhaled corticosteroids.
Ernst et al.
ANN INTERN MED 2006;145:692-694.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

A Safety Review of Long-Acting {beta}2-Agonists in Patients With Asthma
Rider and Craig
JAOA: Journal of the American Osteopathic Association 2006;106:562-567.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Meta-Analysis: Effect of Long-Acting {beta}-Agonists on Severe Asthma Exacerbations and Asthma-Related Deaths
Salpeter et al.
ANN INTERN MED 2006;144:904-912.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

beta-Adrenoceptor Polymorphisms: Focus Moves to Long-Acting beta-Agonists.
Tattersfield and Harrison
Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. 2006;173:473-474.
FULL TEXT  

beta-Adrenergic Receptor Polymorphisms and Response to Salmeterol
Wechsler et al.
Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. 2006;173:519-526.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Coexistent chronic conditions and asthma quality of life: a population-based study.
Adams et al.
Chest 2006;129:285-291.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Summary of recommendations from the Canadian Asthma Consensus Guidelines, 2003
Becker et al.
CMAJ 2005;173:S3-S11.
FULL TEXT  

Traditional and patient-centred outcomes with three classes of asthma medication
Jenkins et al.
Eur Respir J 2005;26:36-44.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Asthma: One Hundred Years of Treatment and Onward
Chu and Drazen
Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. 2005;171:1202-1208.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

What Is New with the {beta}2-Agonists: Issues in the Management of Asthma
Kelly
The Annals of Pharmacotherapy 2005;39:931-938.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Daily versus As-Needed Corticosteroids for Mild Persistent Asthma
Boushey et al.
NEJM 2005;352:1519-1528.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Asthma Steroid Pharmacogenetics: A Study Strategy to Identify Replicated Treatment Responses
Weiss et al.
Proc Am Thorac Soc 2004;1:364-367.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Review: inhaled long acting {beta}2 agonists are effective and safe in stable chronic asthma
Parameswaran
EDUCATION AND PRACTICE 2004;89:ep80-ep80.
FULL TEXT  

Update on National Asthma Education and Prevention Program Pediatric Asthma Treatment Recommendations
Eid
CLIN PEDIATR 2004;43:793-802.
ABSTRACT  

Review: inhaled long acting {beta}2 agonists are effective and safe in stable chronic asthma
Parameswaran
Evid. Based Med. 2004;9:139-139.
FULL TEXT  

Therapeutic Responses in Asthma and COPD: Bronchodilators
Donohue
Chest 2004;126:125S-137S.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Pharmacological Management to Reduce Exacerbations in Adults With Asthma: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
Sin et al.
JAMA 2004;292:367-376.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Corticosteroid pharmacogenetics: association of sequence variants in CRHR1 with improved lung function in asthmatics treated with inhaled corticosteroids
Tantisira et al.
Hum Mol Genet 2004;13:1353-1359.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Meta-Analysis: Respiratory Tolerance to Regular {beta}2-Agonist Use in Patients with Asthma
Salpeter et al.
ANN INTERN MED 2004;140:802-813.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Asthma Exacerbations and Formoterol
Rissmiller et al.
Chest 2004;125:1590-1591.
FULL TEXT  

Ethical Assessment of Clinical Asthma Trials Including Children Subjects
Coffey et al.
Pediatrics 2004;113:87-94.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Airway Tissue Mast Cells in Persistent Asthma: Predictor of Treatment Failure When Patients Discontinue Inhaled Corticosteroids
Kraft et al.
Chest 2003;124:42-50.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Airway-stabilizing effect of long-acting {beta}2-agonists as add-on therapy to inhaled corticosteroids
Currie et al.
QJM 2003;96:435-440.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Effects of Montelukast on Surrogate Inflammatory Markers in Corticosteroid-treated Patients with Asthma
Currie et al.
Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. 2003;167:1232-1238.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Management of asthma in adults: current therapy and future directions
Green et al.
Postgrad. Med. J. 2003;79:259-267.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

OTHER ARTICLES NOTED (Nov 01 to 18 Oct 02)
Evid. Based Nurs. 2003;6:e1-1.
FULL TEXT  

Long-Acting {beta}2-Agonist Monotherapy Versus Continued Therapy with Inhaled Corticosteroids in Patients with Persistent Asthma (SOCS)
Goldsobel
Pediatrics 2002;110:457-457.
FULL TEXT  

ADDITIONAL ARTICLES ABSTRACTED IN ACP JOURNAL CLUB
Evid. Based Med. 2002;7:3-3.
FULL TEXT  

Salmeterol and Inhaled Corticosteroids in Patients With Persistent Asthma
Botkin et al.
JAMA 2001;286:3075-3078.
FULL TEXT  

Inhaled Long-Acting {beta}2-Agonists in Asthma Treatment
JWatch General 2001;2001:1-1.
FULL TEXT  

Inhaled Corticosteroid Reduction and Elimination in Patients With Persistent Asthma Receiving Salmeterol: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Lemanske et al.
JAMA 2001;285:2594-2603.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Therapeutic Options for Persistent Asthma
Holgate
JAMA 2001;285:2637-2639.
FULL TEXT  





HOME | CURRENT ISSUE | PAST ISSUES | TOPIC COLLECTIONS | CME | SUBMIT | SUBSCRIBE | HELP
CONDITIONS OF USE | PRIVACY POLICY | CONTACT US | SITE MAP
 
© 2001 American Medical Association. All Rights Reserved.