Back to Journals » Journal of Asthma and Allergy » Volume 6
![Highly-accessed](assets/img/article_icons/highly-accessed.png)
Utility of adjunctive macrolide therapy in treatment of children with asthma: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors Mikailov A, Kane I, Aronoff S, Luck R, DelVecchio M
Received 29 September 2012
Accepted for publication 6 November 2012
Published 16 January 2013 Volume 2013:6 Pages 23—29
DOI https://doi.org/10.2147/JAA.S38652
Checked for plagiarism Yes
Review by Single anonymous peer review
Peer reviewer comments 4
Anar Mikailov,1 Ilona Kane,2 Stephen C Aronoff,3 Raemma Luck,3,† Michael T DelVecchio3
1Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, 2St Christopher's Hospital for Children, Philadelphia, PA, 3Department of Pediatrics, Temple University School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA
†Raemma Luck is now deceased
Background: The purpose of this study was to investigate macrolides as an adjunct to an asthma controller regimen in children with asthma.
Methods: Prospective clinical trials of macrolide therapy in children with asthma using outcome measures of change in forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) and/or oral corticosteroid requirement were searched for in PubMed up to December 2009. The reference lists of studies were also included in the analysis, as well as those listed in published meta-analyses.
Results: The literature search yielded 116 studies, six of which were included in this meta-analysis. The change in FEV1 from baseline with adjunctive use of macrolide therapy in all children was not significant (0.25% predicted; 95% confidence interval [CI] −0.37, 0.86 predicted, P = 0.43); however, the change in FEV1 among children receiving daily oral corticosteroids was significant (3.89% predicted; 95% CI −0.01, 7.79, P = 0.05). Addition of macrolide therapy to the treatment of children with oral corticosteroid-dependent asthma resulted in a statistically significant decrease in daily corticosteroid dosage (−3.45 mg/day; 95% CI −5.79, −1.09 mg/day, P = 0.004). This reduction in daily corticosteroid dosage was directly proportional to the duration of macrolide therapy (−0.17 mg methylprednisolone per week of macrolide therapy; 95% CI −0.33, −0.021, P = 0.025).
Conclusion: Addition of macrolides to the treatment regimen of children with oral corticosteroid-dependent asthma improves FEV1 and decreases the daily dosage of corticosteroids required for control in these children. The degree of dose reduction is directly related to the duration of macrolide therapy. Additional large, randomized, placebo-controlled trials of adjunctive macrolide use in children with oral corticosteroid-dependent asthma are required to verify this observation.
Keywords: chronic asthma, macrolides, corticosteroid sparing
© 2013 The Author(s). This work is published and licensed by Dove Medical Press Limited. The
full terms of this license are available at https://www.dovepress.com/terms.php
and incorporate the Creative Commons Attribution
- Non Commercial (unported, v3.0) License.
By accessing the work you hereby accept the Terms. Non-commercial uses of the work are permitted
without any further permission from Dove Medical Press Limited, provided the work is properly
attributed. For permission for commercial use of this work, please see paragraphs 4.2 and 5 of our Terms.