Scientists from Dundee University claim that a relatively simple and
inexpensive ‘spit test’ could pave the way for creating bespoke asthma
treatment for children suffering with the lung condition if a specific
genetic mutation is detected and thus practically rendering their
current treatment almost useless.
The Dundee University scientists collaborated with colleagues at
Brighton University to analyse a total of 62 children who all had poorly
controlled asthma and in many cases it was determined that their
prescribed medication could be the source of the problem.
In particularly, a common culprit could
be the inhaled ‘salmeterol’, found in both seretide and servent
inhalers. Salmeterol is used by children with severe asthma that cannot
be controlled with just their inhaled steroid medication such as the
blue inhaler Ventolin – a popular inhaler prescribed to all children
after they are formally diagnosed as having asthma.
The scientists believe that genetic code is the reason why some
children fail to respond to the salmeterol. The drug is known as a
‘bronchodilator’ beta-2 agonist meaning it acts at stimulating beta-2
receptors on the muscle cells that line the airways. This results in
these muscle cells being able to relax and open the airways.
Unfortunately however, an estimated one in seven people have a
genetic mutation – the arginine-16 genotype of the beta-2 receptor- that
causes their receptors to have a slightly altered shape than normal and
the salmeterol does not acknowledge this difference.
All 62 children involved in the study had this genetic mutation and
all had required periods of time off school, had hospital treatment or
had visited a GP out of hours due to their asthma flaring up. During the
study, the authors allowed the children to use their basic inhaler to
control symptoms. In addition though, half were chosen at random to
receive salmeterol and the other half were administered the
anti-inflammatory medicine montelukast, used to prevent children from
experiencing an asthma attack.
Within just three months it was discovered that those taking
montelukast had significantly less coughing and wheezing, less likely to
experience any deterioration of their asthma symptoms, as well as more
likely to use their reliever inhaler less frequently than before.
At the beginning of the study, researchers calculated that 36% of the
children had to use their reliever inhaler on a daily basis. After the
year-long study had come to a conclusion, the total number of children
using this inhaler every day had been slashed by half in the montelukast
group. Interestingly, this trend was not seen within the salmeterol
group.
Professor Somnath Mukhopadhyay said: “For almost every clinical
outcome we were looking at we found that salmeterol either wasn’t
working or was working very poorly. Montelukast was very much better.
We’ve shown for the first time that personalised medicine can work in
the field of childhood asthma.”
Prof Mukhopadhyay says the simple test would cost around £15 if it
were to ever be introduced into GP surgeries, adding that it is
unacceptable to prescribe drugs to children that are ineffective. He
continued: “It’s a common disease affecting a million children in this
country. A common medicine is probably not working in a significant
proportion of the population. I think we need to get some guidance from
lead charities and from the Department of Health.”
Professor Stephen Holgate, MRC clinical professor of
immunopharmacology at Southampton University, commented on the results
of the study and said: “While genetic changes that determine
bronchodilator responses in asthma have been known for some time, this
is a wonderful example of stratified or personalised medicine working
its way into practice. While still a small trial, the results in the
asthmatic children’s response to the two treatments across a number of
asthma outcomes are impressive.”
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