Cell Biology of Steroid Resistant Asthma

Asthma Clinical Trial

Official title: Investigating Biomarkers of Steroid Resistant Asthma

Status Completed

Clinical Trial Summary

The hypothesis is that patients who demonstrate steroid resistant asthma by showing little or no improvement in lung function after a course of oral steroids have different cellular responses to steroids than patients who are steroid sensitive. These altered responses are the reason they demonstrate steroid resistance.

Clinical Trial Description

Current NHLBI guidelines for persistent asthma management recommends the use of steroids for treatment of airway inflammation (1,2). However, some asthmatics do not respond to steroids (3-6). Unfortunately these patients are subjected to the unwanted side effects (osteoporosis, cataracts, etc) of high dose steroid therapy because non-immune tissues remain sensitive to steroids. Recent studies suggest that the costs of asthma are largely attributable to uncontrolled disease (7). Thus, it is important to understand the mechanism(s) of steroid resistance and introduce new forms of therapy for the treatment of these difficult to control asthmatics. As a prelude to pharmaceutical studies in steroid resistant asthma, it is imperative to develop biomarkers that can robustly identify individuals likely to be poor steroid responders so that alternative non-steroid anti-inflammatory therapies, such as Xolair®, can be introduced early in the course of asthma therapy. ;

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Asthma

• NCT number: NCT00361920
• Study type: Interventional
• Source: National Jewish Health
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: August 2006
• Completion date: March 2007