Systemic corticosteriod rapidly reverses bronchodilator subsensitivity induced by formoterol in asthmatic patients.

There is evidence that downregulation and desensitization of airway beta 2-adrenoceptors (beta 2-AR) develops after continuous exposure to long-acting beta 2-agonists such as formoterol and salmeterol. To investigate the facilitatory effects of acute administration of systemic corticosteroid on bronchodilator subsensitivity, as might occur in the setting of acute asthma, 12 subjects with moderately severe asthma, with a mean FEV1 of 66% predicted, of whom were all receiving inhaled corticosteriod, were randomized to receive either inhaled placebo (PL) or inhaled formoterol (FM) 24 micrograms twice daily for 4 wk in a double-blind crossover study. Subjects were also genotyped in terms of beta 2-Ar polymorphism at loci 16 and 27.

Bambuterol in the treatment of asthma. A placebo-controlled comparison of once-daily morning vs evening administration.

Once-daily morning (7 AM) vs evening (10 PM) administration of the terbutaline prodrug bambuterol (20-mg tablet dose) was investigated in a double-blind, cross-over, randomized, and placebo-controlled study involving 29 diurnally active patients with asthma. Terbutaline plasma concentration, spirometry, and drug tolerance were assessed during 39-h inpatient studies. A 7-day washout period separated each treatment.

Comparison between a new once-daily, bronchodilating drug, bambuterol, and terbutaline sustained-release, twice daily.

Bambuterol is a prodrug, from which terbutaline is slowly generated. The objectives of the study were to evaluate whether bambuterol, given once daily, can control symptoms in asthmatic patients and to compare the bronchodilating effect and the side effects with those of terbutaline sustained-release (SR) tablets given twice daily. Twenty-five out-patients with bronchial asthma were treated during two consecutive 14-day periods with either 30 mg bambuterol tablets once every evening or 2 x 5 mg terbutaline SR tablets morning and evening.

Bambuterol: clinical effects of different doses of a long-acting bronchodilator prodrug.

Sixty-eight asthmatics participated in a dose-finding study on bambuterol, a terbutaline prodrug, administered once every evening. Bambuterol administrations of 0.185, 0.

Bambuterol: dose response study of a new terbutaline prodrug in asthma.

The bronchodilator activity and side-effects of treatment for 4 days with either 0.085, 0.170 or 0.