Adding a biologic to allergen immunotherapy increases treatment efficacy. Issue 2 (17th April 2023)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Bożek, Andrzej; Fischer, Andreas; Bogacz-Piaseczynska, Agnieszka; Canonica, Giorgio Walter
• Is Part Of: ERJ open research. Volume 9:Issue 2(2023)
• Publication Date: 2023-04-17
• Subjects: Respiratory organs -- Diseases -- Periodicals; Respiration -- Periodicals; Respiration; Respiratory organs -- Diseases; Respiratory organs -- Diseases -- Treatment; Respiratory Tract Diseases; Electronic journals; Fulltext; Internet Resources; Periodicals; Periodical; 616.2005
• DOI: 10.1183/23120541.00639-2022
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2312-0541

Abstract

Background: The application of allergen immunotherapy (AIT) in combination with biological agents has been found to increase both the safety and efficacy of the desensitisation procedure in patients with food and insect venom allergy. The aim of our study was to compare the effectiveness of AIT in patients with house dust mite (HDM)-driven asthma treated with and without omalizumab. Materials and methods: The study was a placebo-controlled, three-armed, randomised, parallel-group, multicentre trial that included 52 patients with HDM-driven asthma. Only patients with monosensitisation to HDM were included. The study compared three patterns of therapy: omalizumab alone, HDM subcutaneous immunotherapy (SCIT-HDM)+ omalizumab, and SCIT alone. The main outcomes were evaluate the Asthma Control Questionnaire (ACQ) score, number of asthma exacerbations and reduction in the daily dose of inhaled steroids during 12 months of observation. Results: All variants of therapy led to significantly improved ACQ scores and reduction of asthma exacerbations in all study groups after 12 months of treatment. A statistically significant reduction in the daily doses of inhaled corticosteroids in the group with omalizumab alone (650±150 µg versus 500±50 µg for p=0.003) or SCIT-HDM+omalizumab (550±250 µg versus 375±75 µg for p=0.001) was observed, favouring the latter group. Conclusion: The efficacy of AIT for HDM-driven asthma is significantly increased by the combination of allergen vaccine with omalizumab. A combination of AIT to HDM and omalizumab is more effective in reducing symptoms and reducing the daily dose of ICS than using omalizumab alone or AIT alone in patients with HDM-driven asthma https://bit.ly/3W6Ff61