Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease combination therapy

Aerosolised medicines have been used for centuries to treat respiratory diseases, with inhalation therapy for the airways focused primarily on the treatment of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The development of new products for delivery to the lungs for these respiratory diseases includes new steroids and beta agonists plus combination products featuring both agents. New classes of anti-asthma medication are also being developed for inhalation with the aim of delivering them directly to the inflamed airways. 

Combination Therapy for Asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, edited by R. J. Martin and M. Kraft... 

Patients receiving radiation therapy may experience complications including severe esophagitis, fatigue, radiation pneumonitis, and cardiac toxicity. These toxicities are usually more common and severe when radiation is combined with chemotherapy. The patient s baseline performance status and the degree of pulmonary dysfunction (e.g., chronic obstructive pulmonary disease from years of tobacco use) must be considered in the decision of radiation dosage and fractionation. 

Anakinra is the first IL-1 Ra to be approved for use in adults with moderate to severe active rheumatoid arthritis who have not responded adequately to conventional DMARD therapy. It may be used either alone or in combination with methotrexate. Anakinra Is supplied in single-use, prefilled, glass syringes as sterile, clear, preservative-free solution that is administered daily as a self-administered subcutaneous injection under the skin. Some potential side effects include injection site reactions, decreased white blood cell counts, headache, and an increase in upper respiratory infections. There may be a slightly higher rate of respiratory infections in people who have asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Persons with an active infection are advised not to use anakinra. Its elimination half-life after sc administration is 4 to 6 hours. 

Pulmonary administration of medicines currently has the primary objective to achieve local effects in the respiratory tract of patients with chronic diseases like asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and cystic fibrosis (CF). For half a century, inhalation therapy has been the cornerstone in the management of these diseases and the often life-time therapies aim to suppress inflammatory processes and bacterial infection in order to reduce hospitalisations and to improve the patient s quality of life. They also give relief to the patient in moments of bronchoconstriction. The advantages of pulmonary administration of medicines for local treatment are well known. The active substances are delivered directly to the site of action which leads to a faster response than via the systemic route. It may also result in higher local active substance concentrations and this could reduce the total dose by as much as a factor 10 compared to oral or intravenous administration. This has the advantage that systemic side effects are reduced and in combination with being a non-invasive method of administration, inhalation therapy may lead to better patient compliance. 

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