Steroid-sparing effect of inhaled lysine acetylsalicylate and furosemide in high-dose beclomethasone-dependent asthma.

BACKGROUND

Inhaled lysine acetylsalicylate and furosemide exert a mutually potentiating protective activity on experimentally induced bronchoconstriction in asthma.

OBJECTIVE

Our purpose was to investigate the clinical effectiveness of combined treatment of asthma with inhaled lysine acetylsalicylate and furosemide.

METHODS

We performed a randomized, double-blind, crossover study in nine patients with chronic asthma requiring a high dose (2 mg/day) of inhaled beclomethasone for clinical control. Patients were treated with a combination of 720 mg inhaled lysine acetylsalicylate and 40 mg furosemide twice daily, or with matched placebo in addition to inhaled steroids. The dose of inhaled steroids was reduced by half every 15 days and eventually suspended unless a patient's respiratory condition worsened.

RESULTS

During treatment with placebo, all patients had worsening of asthma at dosages of 1 or 0.5 mg/day beclomethasone (mean +/- SE, 833 +/- 83 micrograms/day). During combined treatment complete suspension of inhaled steroids in two patients and reduction to 0.5 to 0.25 mg in the remaining seven patients (mean, 250 +/- 72 micrograms/day) was achieved, with a mean reduction of 71% +/- 7%. Forced expiratory volume in 1 second, weekly peak expiratory flow rate, symptom score, and bronchodilator intake remained significantly better with combined treatment than with placebo.

CONCLUSIONS

Treatment with inhaled lysine acetylsalicylate and furosemide allows a considerable sparing of inhaled steroids without significant side effects in patients with severe asthma.