Certain biomarkers may be helpful in forecasting 1-year remission in patients with severe asthma who have received anti-IL-5 therapy. The news is part of a study from Belgium researchers involving four sputum type 2 biomarkers.
Specifically, researchers found that a percentage of sputum neutrophil, levels of eotaxin-1, IL-5 and eosinophil peroxidase may hold the keys to the remission forecast. In addition, being a male was another possible predictor of remission.
According to Catherine Moermans, PhD, laboratory manager at Liège University Hospital in Liege, Belgium, the study evaluated 52 patients with severe eosinophilic asthma who were treated with the anti-IL-5 agent mepolizumab to locate biomarkers that predict remission 1 year after receiving the treatment.
Researchers considered several factors that made up the classification for remission, including the absence of chronic treatment with oral corticosteroids, no exacerbation, an asthma control questionnaire and a blood eosinophil count less than 300 cells/L.
In sorting out patients who achieved remission and those who did not, researchers evaluated several clinical and biological factors in patients’ sputum prior to receipt of the therapy. After one year, 11 (8 men) patients met the criteria for remission. Patients who achieved remission prior to treatment also had elevated sputum eotaxin-1 (P = 0.046), TSLP (P = 0.04), IL-5 (P = 0.002), EPX (P = 0.001) and IgE protein (P = 0.006) levels vs. patients who did not achieve remission. According to researchers, these are all sputum type 2 biomarkers.
Both the American Thoracic Society and European Respiratory Society guidelines in the management of severe asthma recommend sputum in predicting patients who will achieve remission. The study underscores the importance in prescribing biologics as treatment.
