Treating COPD With Inhaled Steroids: Killing Two Birds With One Stone?

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is one of the five
leading causes of death worldwide. It is characterised by an
inflammatory response to inhaled fumes (mostly tobacco smoking) that
leads, in the long term, to the loss of lung function, limiting
airflow and causing shortness of breath.


Patients affected by COPD often suffer episodes of worsening of
symptoms called acute exacerbations, mostly caused by bacterial
infections. These episodes of exacerbation impact negatively on the
health status of the patients, worsen their prognosis and are
associated with a very significant social and economic cost.


Treatment with inhaled steroids, such as fluticasone propionate,
reduces the frequency and severity of acute exacerbations in patients
with COPD, but their role in controlling bacterial infection is
controversial.


In healthy subjects the lung is sterile, but in patients with COPD it
is not and bacteria like S. pneumoniae and H. influenzae are
frequently isolated.


This study by Sebastian Albert?­ (Institut Universitari
d'Investigacions en Ci??ncies de la Salut, IUNICS, Palma de Mallorca,
Spain) and colleagues focuses on the direct effect of fluticasone
propionate on the interaction of these pathogens with the lung
epithelium, using mice models and in vitro human cell cultures.
The authors demonstrate that, under the effects of fluticasone
propionate, the capacity of those major pathogens to invade the
respiratory epithelium is significantly decreased.


Therefore, this work provides another clue for the understanding of
the beneficial effects of fluticasone propionate in COPD patients.


TITLE OF THE ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Fluticasone propionate reduces bacterial airway epithelial invasion


The European Respiratory Journal


The European Respiratory Journal is the peer-reviewed scientific
publication of the European Respiratory Society (more than 8,000
specialists in lung diseases and respiratory medicine in Europe, the
United States and Australia).


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Source

Press Office

European Respiratory Society

Cedos International

23 Gourgas

1205 Geneva Switzerland

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