Antibiotic Found to Relieve Asthma
Reported April 13, 2006
(Ivanhoe Newswire) — Asthma sufferers may get relief from an unlikely source, an antibiotic.
A new study shows the antibiotic telithromycin can shorten asthma attack patients’ recovery time by three days, as well as reduce symptoms and improve lung function. The drug is not currently used for treating asthma.
Researchers from 70 centers across the world participated in the TELICAST (TELIthromycin, Chlamydophila and ASThma) study. They studied 278 patients with asthma.
Results show patients who took telithromycin had almost double the improvement in their symptoms and lung function compared to those who took a placebo. Recovery time was cut from an average of eight days for those on a placebo to five days in patients given the antibiotic.
While most acute asthma attacks are thought to be linked to viral infections, researchers believe telithromycin may work against the atypical bacteria, Chlamydophila pneumoniae and Mycoplasma pneumoniae. Researchers found 61 percent of study participants tested positive for C. pneumoniae and/or M. pneumoniae. The anti-inflammatory benefits of the drug may help reduce recovery time.
“Traditionally antibiotics have not proven effective in treating asthma attacks but this development could open up a whole new area of research in the treatment of asthma,” says lead researcher Professor Sebastian Johnston, of Imperial College in London.
“Although we’re not sure about the exact mechanism which caused this antibiotic to be effective, this study indicates it does clearly have a beneficial effect.”
SOURCE: New England Journal of Medicine, 2006; 354:1589-600