The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 269 No 7222 p634
2 November 2002

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American College of Gastroenterology (www.acg.gi.org)

A daily dose of lansoprazole could reduce exacerbations in difficult to control asthma

Daily use of the proton pump inhibitor lansoprazole reduces asthma exacerbations and improves the general well-being of patients with asthma and symptoms of acid reflux, new data shows.

Researchers randomly assigned 207 subjects with moderate to severe asthma and symptoms of acid reflux to receive lansoprazole 30mg or placebo daily. At 24 weeks, fewer patients in the treatment group had experienced one or more asthma exacerbations than in the placebo group (8 versus 22). Four subjects taking lansoprazole and 15 subjects taking placebo required prednisolone for exacerbations. The researchers note that those patients requiring at least one long-term medicine for controlling their asthma in addition to inhaled cortico-steroids had the greatest improvement in exacerbations and quality of life from taking lansoprazole. They conclude that lansoprazole offers the most benefit to patients with more difficult to control asthma.

Data from the study, funded by TAP Pharmaceuticals and Abbott Laboratories, were presented at the annual meeting of the American College of Gastroenterology in Seattle, Washington, last week.