Glucocorticoid may reduce side effects of existing asthma therapies
A study, titled "Oral Glucocorticoid–Sparing Effect of Benralizumab in Severe Asthma", which is published May 22, 2017 in New England Journal of Medicine, has shown that benralizumab, a monoclonal antibody directed against the alpha subunit of the IL-5 receptor, may have clinical benefits on on oral glucocorticoid use compared with placebo.
Asthma is a very prevelant inflammatory disease of the airways, affecting up to hundreds of millions of people throughout the world. In some cases, the symptoms can be very severe, requiring the use of high-dose inhaled glucocorticoids and bronchodilators. Oral glucocorticoid treament has been reported to have side effects, which influences life quality of the patients. Therefore, many scientists are working to develop efficious treaments with less side effects.
It is well established that eosinophilic inflammation is involved in asthma pathogenesis and that elevated eosinophils is associated with severer disease. Glucocorticoids may work by decreasing eosinophils and other inflammatory cells in airways. Mepolizumab and reslizumab are both monoclonal antibodies that target IL-5, a protein important for eosinophils, and are used in the treatment of asthma.
In this work, the team focused on benralizumab, an antibody that targets the alpha subunit of the IL-5 receptor (IL-5Rα). A total of 369 patients were enrolled in the study. The participants were assigned randomly to reveive benralizumab or placebo. Results showed that patients with severe eosinophilic asthma who received benralizumab required reduced dose of oral glucocorticoid therapy when their disease was controlled.
Although benralizumab has yet been approved, the finding demonstrates its therapeutic potential in asthma. The study is carried out by McMaster University researchers. (Cusabio provides IL-5, IL-5Rα, and like Recombinant IL4R, as well as rabbit polyclonal antibody.)