Nicoleta Bîscă *
* Dr. Nicoleta Bîscă – Institutui Clinic de Pneumoftiziologie “Marius Nasta” Bucureşti, Compartimentul de fiziopatologie respiratorie
Abstract
The place of theophylline in the hierarchy of asthma therapy needs to be reevaluated. Theophylline has antiasthma properties other than bronchodilatation, and these non-bronchodilator effects include anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory actions. These effects are achivable at lower doses than previously used thus minimising side effects. The clinical studies have shown that theophylline can be introduced at an earlier stage in the treatment of asthma as an oral baseline therapy in combination with low-dose inhaled steroid. This combination may be the most cost effective way of controlling asthma in the future. UNI-DUR is a new, sustained-release theophylline; UNI-DUR administered once daily has proved to be an effective long-acting bronchodilator in patients with reversible airway obstruction, especially for nocturnal asthma. The present study was designed to investigate the clinical and functional efficacy of oral s.r. theophylline with low dose of inhaled steroids as compared to high dose of inhaled corticosteroids in moderate to severe childhood asthma. The results showed that both treatment improve asthma control, but the use of theophylline appears to have advantages in terms of PEF and MEF50 values increase. The lower cost of theophylline improves the cost/benefit ratio of this treatment modality.