Bronchial asthma as neurogenic paroxysmal inflammatory disease: do some antiepileptic drugs have antiasthmatic properties?

Bronchial asthma is an inflammatory disease, and neurogenic inflammation may play important role in asthma mechanisms. But asthma also is an inflammatory disease with paroxysmal clinical picture. It is known that migraine and trigeminal neuralgia also are inflammatory diseases with paroxysmal clinical picture, and neurogenic inflammation plays important role in their mechanisms.

Bronchial asthma as neurogenic paroxysmal inflammatory disease: a randomized trial with carbamazepine.

Purpose: Based on the assumption that bronchial asthma has not only inflammatory, but also certain neurogenic paroxysmal mechanism and pathophysiological links with other non-epileptic paroxysmal inflammatory diseases--migraine and trigeminal neuralgia, we decided to investigate efficacy of antiepileptic drug carbamazepine in patients with moderate persistent or severe asthma.

Methods: Sixty-three patients completed randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

Results: Stable remission was achieved after carbamazepine treatment in 25 patients in active group (n=33).