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Li Y, Deng Z, Wen J, Ou C, Cen X, Liao Y, Zhang Q, Xie J. Efficacy of dupilumab and risk factors for dupilumab-induced hypereosinophilia in severe asthma: a preliminary study from China. Ann Med 2024; 56:2311843. [PMID: 38316016 PMCID: PMC10846423 DOI: 10.1080/07853890.2024.2311843] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2023] [Accepted: 01/24/2024] [Indexed: 02/07/2024] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Dupilumab has been approved for the treatment of severe asthma with type 2 inflammation by inhibiting interleukin (IL)-4 and IL-13 signaling. However, dupilumab-induced hypereosinophilia (HE) has been reported and should not be ignored. The aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy of dupilumab in Chinese patients with severe asthma, whether HE affects its efficacy, and the possible risk factors for HE. METHODS 20 patients with severe asthma who received dupilumab treatment for at least 12 months in the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University from 2019 to 2022 were included. We compared clinical data and laboratory tests results before dupilumab treatment and at 4 and 12 months after treatment. Based on whether dupilumab treatment triggers HE defined as blood eosinophil count (BEC) ≥ 1.5 × 109 cells/L, the patients were allocated into non-HE and HE groups. RESULTS The patients showed a significant increase in asthma control test (ACT) scores, a decrease in the number of exacerbations, a decrease in the proportion of patients taking an oral corticosteroid (OCS) and in the dose, and a significant improvement in the pulmonary function parameters FEV1/FVC (%) and FEV1 (% predicted) after 4 and 12 months of treatment with dupilumab. For type 2 inflammatory biomarkers, the levels of fractional concentration of exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO), sputum eosinophil count percentage (SEC%) and total immunoglobulin E (TIgE) decreased significantly, whereas BEC were higher after 4 months of treatment, but returned to baseline levels after 12 months. 8 patients (40%) developed asymptomatic HE after dupilumab, and the efficacy was not significantly different between the HE and non-HE groups. The earliest BEC elevation appeared at 1 month after treatment, but most of them declined after 6 months, and basically returned to the baseline level around 12 months of treatment. In addition, we further found that when patients had FeNO ≥ 60 ppb, food allergens positive and combined eosinophilic otitis media (EOM), their BEC increased significantly more than that of the control group after 4 months as well as 12 months of treatment. CONCLUSIONS This study demonstrated that dupilumab was efficacious in Chinese patients with severe asthma, and some patients developed asymptomatic, self-limited HE, which did not affect its efficacy. Additionally, FeNO ≥60 ppb, food allergens positive, and co-morbidities with EOM may be the risk factors for developing HE.
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Affiliation(s)
- You Li
- Department of pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, National Center for Respiratory Medicine, State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Diseases, Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Health, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China
- Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Shenzhen Guangming District People’s Hospital, Shenzhen, China
| | - Zhenan Deng
- Department of pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, National Center for Respiratory Medicine, State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Diseases, Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Health, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Junjie Wen
- Department of pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, National Center for Respiratory Medicine, State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Diseases, Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Health, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Changxing Ou
- Department of pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, National Center for Respiratory Medicine, State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Diseases, Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Health, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Xiaomin Cen
- Department of pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, National Center for Respiratory Medicine, State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Diseases, Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Health, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Yongkang Liao
- Department of pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, National Center for Respiratory Medicine, State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Diseases, Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Health, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Qingling Zhang
- Department of pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, National Center for Respiratory Medicine, State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Diseases, Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Health, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Jiaxing Xie
- Department of pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, National Center for Respiratory Medicine, State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Diseases, Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Health, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China
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Nakagome K, Nagata M. The Possible Roles of IL-4/IL-13 in the Development of Eosinophil-Predominant Severe Asthma. Biomolecules 2024; 14:546. [PMID: 38785953 PMCID: PMC11117569 DOI: 10.3390/biom14050546] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2024] [Revised: 04/21/2024] [Accepted: 04/29/2024] [Indexed: 05/25/2024] Open
Abstract
Bronchial asthma is characterized by airway inflammation, airway hyperresponsiveness, and reversible airway obstruction. Eosinophils contribute to the pathogenesis of airway disease mainly by releasing eosinophil-specific granules, lipid mediators, superoxide anions, and their DNA. Type-2 cytokines such as interleukin (IL)-4 and IL-13 also play roles in the development of bronchial asthma. Among these cytokines, IL-4 is involved in T-cell differentiation, B-cell activation, B-cell differentiation into plasma cells, and the production of immunoglobulin E. Although IL-13 has similar effects to IL-4, IL-13 mainly affects structural cells, such as epithelial cells, smooth muscle cells, and fibroblasts. IL-13 induces the differentiation of goblet cells that produce mucus and induces the airway remodeling, including smooth muscle hypertrophy. IL-4 and IL-13 do not directly activate the effector functions of eosinophils; however, they can induce eosinophilic airway inflammation by upregulating the expression of vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (for adhesion) and CC chemokine receptor 3 ligands (for migration). Dupilumab, a human anti-IL-4 receptor α monoclonal antibody that inhibits IL-4 and IL-13 signaling, decreases asthma exacerbations and mucus plugs and increases lung function in moderate to severe asthma. In addition, dupilumab is effective for chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps and for atopic dermatitis, and IL-4/IL-13 blocking is expected to suppress allergen sensitization, including transcutaneous sensitization and atopic march.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kazuyuki Nakagome
- Department of Respiratory Medicine, Saitama Medical University, Saitama 350-0495, Japan
- Allergy Center, Saitama Medical University, Saitama 350-0495, Japan
| | - Makoto Nagata
- Department of Respiratory Medicine, Saitama Medical University, Saitama 350-0495, Japan
- Allergy Center, Saitama Medical University, Saitama 350-0495, Japan
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Masumoto N, Oshikata C, Nakadegawa R, Motobayashi Y, Osada R, Manabe S, Kaneko T, Tsurikisawa N. Dupilumab suppresses relapsing chronic eosinophilic pneumonia with severe asthma. NAGOYA JOURNAL OF MEDICAL SCIENCE 2023; 85:857-865. [PMID: 38155613 PMCID: PMC10751507 DOI: 10.18999/nagjms.85.4.857] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/11/2023] [Accepted: 02/09/2023] [Indexed: 12/30/2023]
Abstract
Dupilumab-induced hypereosinophilia is mediated by blockade of the IL-4/IL-13 pathway, which reduces eosinophil migration from peripheral blood. The increase in peripheral blood eosinophils may lead to chronic eosinophilic pneumonia (CEP) and/or eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis, but a direct causal connection between dupilumab and eosinophilic lung diseases has not been established. A 33-year-old Japanese woman with bronchial asthma since age three was treated with fluticasone propionate plus salmeterol twice daily after several asthma exacerbations at age 17. Her course was complicated by CEP at age 33 which resolved without the need for systemic steroids. However, in the four months following resolution of her CEP, the patient had three asthma exacerbations, and a recurrence of CEP, with blood leukocytes of 8500/µL, of which 25.0% were eosinophils. She was treated with prednisolone 50 mg/day, but she could not continue this dose due to the onset of myalgia. Then she had relapsing CEP twice within three months. She was treated with prednisolone 15 mg/day for CEP, but she had persistent asthma for more than one month; dupilumab was added at 600 mg, followed by 300 mg every two weeks. In the first month of treatment with dupilumab, the patient's asthma symptoms resolved completely, and she had only one relapse of CEP. In 12 months of follow-up, she had neither an asthma exacerbation nor another relapse of CEP. Dupilumab may be a promising treatment for patients with refractory asthma complicated by recurring CEP and undesirable steroid side effects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nami Masumoto
- Department of Respirology, National Hospital Organization Yokohama Medical Center, Yokohama, Japan
- Department of Pulmonology, Yokohama City University Graduate School of Medicine, Yokohama, Japan
| | - Chiyako Oshikata
- Department of Respirology, National Hospital Organization Yokohama Medical Center, Yokohama, Japan
- Department of Pulmonology, Yokohama City University Graduate School of Medicine, Yokohama, Japan
| | - Ryo Nakadegawa
- Department of Respirology, National Hospital Organization Yokohama Medical Center, Yokohama, Japan
| | - Yuto Motobayashi
- Department of Respirology, National Hospital Organization Yokohama Medical Center, Yokohama, Japan
| | - Reeko Osada
- Department of Respirology, National Hospital Organization Yokohama Medical Center, Yokohama, Japan
| | - Saki Manabe
- Department of Respirology, National Hospital Organization Yokohama Medical Center, Yokohama, Japan
| | - Takeshi Kaneko
- Department of Pulmonology, Yokohama City University Graduate School of Medicine, Yokohama, Japan
| | - Naomi Tsurikisawa
- Department of Respirology, National Hospital Organization Yokohama Medical Center, Yokohama, Japan
- Department of Pulmonology, Yokohama City University Graduate School of Medicine, Yokohama, Japan
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Moss RB. Severe Fungal Asthma: A Role for Biologics and Inhaled Antifungals. J Fungi (Basel) 2023; 9:jof9010085. [PMID: 36675906 PMCID: PMC9861760 DOI: 10.3390/jof9010085] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/09/2022] [Revised: 01/02/2023] [Accepted: 01/03/2023] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Allergic asthma has traditionally been treated with inhaled and systemic glucocorticosteroids. A continuum of allergic fungal airways disease associated with Aspergillus fumigatus colonization and/or atopic immune responses that encompasses fungal asthma, severe asthma with fungal sensitization and allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis is now recognized along a phenotypic severity spectrum of T2-high immune deviation lung disease. Oral triazoles have shown clinical, anti-inflammatory and microbiologic efficacy in this setting; in the future inhaled antifungals may improve the therapeutic index. Humanized monoclonal antibody biologic agents targeting T2-high disease also show efficacy and promise of improved control in difficult cases. Developments in these areas are highlighted in this overview.
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Affiliation(s)
- Richard B Moss
- Center of Excellence in Pulmonary Biology, Division of Pulmonary, Asthma and Sleep Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Stanford University School of Medicine, 770 Welch Road, Suite 350, Palo Alto, CA 94304, USA
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