A clinical trial of the efficacy and safety of montelukast as monotherapy in patients with chronic stable bronchial asthma

This study is aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of montelukast, as monotherapy, in the treatment of chronic stable bronchial asthma in adults. This was a multicentre, open label, non-comparative, prospective, 4-week study. Eligible patients discontinued all anti-inflammatory medication (ster...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of the Indian Medical Association Vol. 102; no. 2; p. 109
Main Authors Athavale, A, Souza, G A D, Avasthi, R, Singh, N P, Kale, M, Taneja, A, Sireesha, K
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published India 01.02.2004
Subjects
Acetates - therapeutic use
Adult
Aged
Anti-Asthmatic Agents - therapeutic use
Asthma - drug therapy
Asthma - physiopathology
Chronic Disease
Female
Forced Expiratory Volume
Humans
Leukotriene Antagonists - therapeutic use
Male
Middle Aged
Peak Expiratory Flow Rate
Prospective Studies
Quinolines - therapeutic use
Treatment Outcome
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Summary:This study is aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of montelukast, as monotherapy, in the treatment of chronic stable bronchial asthma in adults. This was a multicentre, open label, non-comparative, prospective, 4-week study. Eligible patients discontinued all anti-inflammatory medication (steroids, chromoglycate sodium) 2 weeks prior to starting therapy with montelukast (10 mg daily). The primary efficacy criteria were improvements in forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1), peak exploratory flow rate (PEFR) after 4 weeks of therapy. Secondary efficacy criteria were improvement in the patients' symptoms (assessed on an ordinal scale), decrease in discomfort levels (scored on a scale of 0-100), change in peripheral eosinophil counts, decrease in total daily dose of inhaled beta2 agonist (salbutamol). A total of 148 patients, mean age (+/- SD) 40.21 +/- 13.70 years, were enrolled into the study. At the end of the study there were significant improvements in FEV1 and PEFR (29% and 28% increase respectively from baseline values, p<0.000001). The mean total daily dose of inhaled salbutamol decreased significantly from prestudy values of 461 +/- 332 microg/day to 161 +/- 207 microg/day (p<0.000001). The mean eosinophil counts fell from 5.80 +/- 4.90% (+/- SD) to 4.84 +/- 4.42% (+/- SD) (p=0.02). Symptom scores improved significantly as did subjective assessment of discomfort. A total of 29 (19.6%) adverse events were reported, all of which were of mild to moderate intensity. Monotherapy with montelukast significantly improved parameters of asthma control. It was well tolerated with no reports of serious or severe adverse events.
ISSN:0019-5847