Can Simvastatin reduce COPD Exacerbations? A Randomised Double Blind Controlled Study

2021 ◽  
pp. 2001798
Author(s):  
Peter Schenk ◽  
Alexander O. Spiel ◽  
Felix Hüttinger ◽  
Micheline Gmeiner ◽  
Josefine Fugger ◽  
...  

Several studies have shown that statins have beneficial effects in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) regarding lung function decline, rates and severity of exacerbations, hospitalisation and need for mechanical ventilation.We performed a randomised double-blind placebo-controlled single-center trial of simvastatin at a daily dose of 40 mg versus placebo in patients with Global Initiative for COPD criteria II-IV at a tertiary care pulmonology department in Austria. Scheduled treatment duration was 12 months and main outcome parameter was time to first exacerbation.Overall 209 patients were enrolled. In the 105 patients taking simvastatin, time to first exacerbation was significantly longer compared to the 104 patients taking placebo: median 341 versus 140 days, log-rank test p<0.001. Hazard ratio for risk of first exacerbation for the simvastatin group was 0.51 (95% CI 0.34–0.75; p=0.001). Rate of exacerbations was significantly lower with simvastatin: 103 (41%) versus 147 (59%), p=0.003. The annualised exacerbation rate was 1.45 per patient-year in the simvastatin group and 1.9 in the placebo group (IRR 0.77, 95% CI 0.60 to 0.99).We found no effect on quality of life, lung function, 6-minute walk test and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein. More patients dropped out in the simvastatin group compared to the placebo group (39 versus 29).In our single-center RCT, simvastatin at a dose of 40 mg daily significantly prolonged time to first COPD exacerbation and reduced exacerbation rate.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dawei Chen ◽  
Yanwei Yin ◽  
Jin Shi ◽  
Fen Yang ◽  
Kehua Wang ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: DL-3-n-butylphthalide (NBP) was demonstrated to increase the cerebral blood flow (CBF) in the animal models, but there are no clinic studies to verify this. We aimed to explore the effect of NBP on improving cerebral hypoperfusion caused by cerebral large-vessel stenosis. Methods: In this single-center, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study, 120 patients with severe carotid atherosclerotic stenosis and cerebral hypoperfusion in the ipsilateral middle cerebral artery (MCA) were included and randomly assigned into NBP or placebo group as 1:1 radio. Patients in NBP or placebo group received 200mg or 20mg of NBP capsules three times daily for four weeks respectively. Single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) was used to assess regional CBF (rCBF) in four regions of interest (ROIs) corresponding to MCA before and 12 weeks after the treatment. After therapy, the rCBF change for every ROI and the whole CBF change in MCA territory for every patient were classified into amelioration, stabilization and deterioration respectively. Results: 48 NBP patients (6 with bilateral stenosis) and 46 placebo patients (8 with bilateral stenosis) completed the trial. Overall, both groups had 54 stenotic carotid arteries and 216 ROIs for rCBF change analysis. After therapy, the rCBF in ROIs increased in NBP group (83.5%±11.4% vs. 85.8%±12.5%, p=0.000), whereas no change was found in placebo group (86.9%±11.6% vs. 87.8%±11.7%, p=0.331). Besides, there was higher percentages of ROIs with rCBF amelioration and stabilization in NBP group than in placebo group (93.1% vs. 79.2%, p=0.000). Furthermore, ordinal regression analysis showed that compared with placebo, NBP independently made more patients to have whole CBF amelioration in ipsilateral MCA (Wald-χ2=5.247, OR=3.31, p=0.022). Conclusions: NBP might improve the cerebral hypoperfusion in the patients with carotid artery atherosclerotic stenosis. Trial registration: Chinese Clinical Trial Registry, ChiCTR1900028005, registered December 8th 2019- Retrospectively registered ( http://www.chictr.org.cn/index.aspx ).


2017 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 1700711 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roberto W. Dal Negro ◽  
Jadwiga A. Wedzicha ◽  
Martin Iversen ◽  
Giovanni Fontana ◽  
Clive Page ◽  
...  

Oxidative stress contributes to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exacerbations and antioxidants can decrease exacerbation rates, although we lack data about the effect of such drugs on exacerbation duration.The RESTORE (Reducing Exacerbations and Symptoms by Treatment with ORal Erdosteine in COPD) study was a prospective randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study, enrolling patients aged 40–80 years with Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease stage II/III. Patients received erdosteine 300 mg twice daily or placebo added to usual COPD therapy for 12 months. The primary outcome was the number of acute exacerbations during the study.In the pre-specified intention-to-treat population of 445 patients (74% male; mean age 64.8 years, forced expiratory volume in 1 s 51.8% predicted) erdosteine reduced the exacerbation rate by 19.4% (0.91 versus. 1.13 exacerbations·patient−1·year−1 for erdosteine and placebo, respectively; p=0.01), due to an effect on mild events; the reduction in the rate of mild exacerbations was 57.1% (0.23 versus 0.54 exacerbations·patient−1·year−1 for erdosteine and placebo, respectively; p=0.002). No significant difference was observed in the rate of moderate and severe exacerbations (0.68 versus 0.59 exacerbations·patient−1·year−1 for erdosteine and placebo, respectively; p=0.054) despite a trend in favour of the comparison group. Erdosteine decreased the exacerbation duration irrespective of event severity by 24.6% (9.55 versus 12.63 days for erdosteine and placebo, respectively; p=0.023). Erdosteine significantly improved subject and physician subjective severity scores (p=0.022 and p=0.048, respectively), and reduced the use of reliever medication (p<0.001), but did not affect the St George's Respiratory Questionnaire score or the time to first exacerbation.In patients with COPD, erdosteine can reduce both the rate and duration of exacerbations. The percentage of patients with adverse events was similar in both the placebo and erdosteine treatment groups.


2020 ◽  
pp. 2003338
Author(s):  
Christine R. Jenkins ◽  
Fu-Qiang Wen ◽  
Allison Martin ◽  
Peter J. Barnes ◽  
Bartolome Celli ◽  
...  

BackgroundThe highest burden of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) occurs in low and middle income countries. Low cost oral medications, if effective, could enable affordable, accessible COPD treatment.MethodsIn this randomised, 3 arm, double-blind, double dummy, placebo controlled study conducted in 37 centres in China, symptomatic patients with moderate/very severe COPD were randomised 1:1:1 to low dose (LD) theophylline 100 mg bd+prednisone 5 mg once daily; LD theophylline 100 mg bd+placebo once daily; or placebo bd+placebo once daily for 48 weeks. The primary endpoint was annualised exacerbation rate.Findings1670 subjects were randomised, and 1242 completed the study (1142 with acceptable Week 48 data). Subjects (75.7% male) were mean age 64.4 years, with mean (sd) baseline post-bronchodilator Forced Expiratory Volume in 1 s (FEV1) 1.1 (0.4)L, 42.2% predicted and mean (sd) St Georges Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) score 45.8 (20.1). There were negligible differences between annualised exacerbation rates across the three treatments, being 0.89 (95%CI=0.78–1.02) on Prednisone-LD Theophylline; 0.86 (0.75–0.99) on LD Theophylline plus placebo, and 1.00 (0.87–1.14) on double placebo. The Rate Ratio between the first and the pooled comparative arms was 0.96 (0.83–1.12), and for LD Theophylline+placebo versus placebo was 0.866, 95% CI 0.728; 1.029, p=0.101 and for LD Theophylline+Low dose oral Prednisone versus placebo was 0.895, 95% CI 0.755; 1.061, p=0.201. Secondary outcomes of hospitalisations, FEV1, SGRQ and COPD Assessment Test (CAT) score showed no statistically significant difference between treatment arms. Serious adverse events (SAEs) other than exacerbations were <2% and did not differ between the treatment arms.ConclusionsLD theophylline alone or in combination with prednisone did not reduce exacerbation rates or clinically important secondary endpoints compared to placebo.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
dawei Chen ◽  
Jin Shi ◽  
Yanwei Yin ◽  
Fen Yang ◽  
Kehua Wang ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: DL-3-n-butylphthalide (NBP) was demonstrated to increase the cerebral blood flow (CBF) in the animal models, but there are no clinic studies to verify this. We aimed to explore the effect of NBP on improving cerebral hypoperfusion caused by cerebral large-vessel stenosis. Methods: In this single-center, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study, 120 patients with severe carotid atherosclerotic stenosis and cerebral hypoperfusion in the ipsilateral middle cerebral artery (MCA) were included and randomly assigned into the NBP or placebo group as 1:1 radio. Patients in NBP and placebo group received 200mg and 20mg of NBP capsules three times daily for four weeks respectively. Single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) were used to assess regional CBF (rCBF) in four regions of interest (ROIs) corresponding to MCA before and 12 weeks after the treatment. The rC BF change for every ROI and the CBF change in whole MCA territory for every patient after therapy were classified into amelioration, stabilization and deterioration respectively. Results: 48 NBP patients (6 with bilateral stenosis) and 46 placebo patients (8 with bilateral stenosis) completed the trial. Both groups had 54 stenotic carotid arteries and 216 ROIs for rCBF change analysis. After therapy, the rCBF in ROIs increased in NBP group (83.5%±11.4% vs. 85.8%±12.5%, p=0.000), but had no change in placebo group (86.9%±11.6% vs. 87.8%±11.7%, p=0.331). There was higher percentages of ROIs with rCBF amelioration and stabilization in NBP group than in placebo group (93.1% vs. 79.2%, p=0.000). Ordinal regression analysis showed that NBP independently made more patients to have whole CBF amelioration in ipsilateral MCA than placebo (Wald-χ2=5.247, OR=3.31, p=0.022). Conclusions: NBP may improve the cerebral hypoperfusion in the patients with carotid artery atherosclerotic stenosis. Trial registration: Chinese Clinical Trial Registry, ChiCTR1900028005, registered December 8th 2019- Retrospectively registered, http://www.chictr.org.cn/edit.aspx?pid=45490&htm=4.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dawei Chen ◽  
Yanwei Yin ◽  
Jin Shi ◽  
Fen Yang ◽  
Kehua Wang ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: DL-3-n-butylphthalide (NBP) was demonstrated to increase the cerebral blood flow (CBF) in the animal models, but there are no clinic studies to verify this. We aimed to explore the effect of NBP on improving cerebral hypoperfusion caused by cerebral large-vessel stenosis.Methods: In this single-center, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study, 120 patients with severe carotid atherosclerotic stenosis and cerebral hypoperfusion in the ipsilateral middle cerebral artery (MCA) were included and randomly assigned into NBP or placebo group as 1:1 radio. Patients in NBP or placebo group received 200mg or 20mg of NBP capsules three times daily for four weeks respectively. Single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) was used to assess regional CBF (rCBF) in four regions of interest (ROIs) corresponding to MCA before and 12 weeks after the treatment. After therapy, the rCBF change for every ROI and the whole CBF change in MCA territory for every patient were classified into amelioration, stabilization and deterioration respectively.Results: 48 NBP patients (6 with bilateral stenosis) and 46 placebo patients (8 with bilateral stenosis) completed the trial. Overall, both groups had 54 stenotic carotid arteries and 216 ROIs for rCBF change analysis. After therapy, the rCBF in ROIs increased in NBP group (83.5%±11.4% vs. 85.8%±12.5%, p=0.000), whereas no change was found in placebo group (86.9%±11.6% vs. 87.8%±11.7%, p=0.331). Besides, there was higher percentages of ROIs with rCBF amelioration and stabilization in NBP group than in placebo group (93.1% vs. 79.2%, p=0.000). Furthermore, ordinal regression analysis showed that compared with placebo, NBP independently made more patients to have whole CBF amelioration in ipsilateral MCA (Wald-χ2=5.247, OR=3.31, p=0.022).Conclusions: NBP might improve the cerebral hypoperfusion in the patients with carotid artery atherosclerotic stenosis.Trial registration: Chinese Clinical Trial Registry, ChiCTR1900028005, registered December 8th 2019- Retrospectively registered (http://www.chictr.org.cn/index.aspx).


2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Banin Maghfirotin Marta ◽  
Utami Tyas ◽  
Cahyanto Muhammad Nur ◽  
Widada Jaka ◽  
Rahayu Endang Sutriswati

Consumption of probiotics is known to influence the gut microbiota. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of probiotic powder containing Lactobacillus plantarum Dad-13 on bacterial composition in the gut by examining fecal samples of school-age children in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. This is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. A total of 40 healthy subjects were recruited for this study and were divided into two groups: placebo group and probiotic group. The placebo group consumed skim milk and the probiotic group consumed probiotic powder containing L. plantarum Dad-13 (2 × 109 CFU/g) for 65 days. The results showed that placebo intake had no significant effect on gut microbiota; however, probiotic caused a significant increase in L. plantarum and Lactobacillus population, while decreasing the population of E. coli and non-E. coli coliform bacteria by 55% and 75%, respectively and Bifidobacteria count did not change significantly. The study concluded that consumption of probiotic powder L. plantarum Dad-13 could increase propionic acid thereby decreasing the gut pH which has an effect on the microbial population.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (9) ◽  
pp. 1933
Author(s):  
Esther Jiménez ◽  
Susana Manzano ◽  
Dietmar Schlembach ◽  
Krzysztof Arciszewski ◽  
Rocio Martin ◽  
...  

Mastitis is considered one of the main reasons for unwanted breastfeeding cessation. This study aimed to investigate the preventive effect of the probiotic strain Ligilactobacillus salivarius PS2 on the occurrence of mastitis in lactating women. In this multicountry, multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, 328 women were assigned to the probiotic or the placebo group. The intervention started from the 35th week of pregnancy until week 12 post-partum. The primary outcome was the incidence (hazard) rate of mastitis, defined as the presence of at least two of the following symptoms: breast pain, breast erythema, breast engorgement not relieved by breastfeeding, and temperature > 38 °C. The probability of being free of mastitis during the study was higher in the probiotic than in the placebo group (p = 0.022, Kaplan–Meier log rank test) with 9 mastitis cases (6%) vs. 20 mastitis cases (14%), respectively. The hazard ratio of the incidence of mastitis between both study groups was 0.41 (0.190–0.915; p = 0.029), indicating that women in the probiotic group were 58% less likely to experience mastitis. In conclusion, supplementation of L. salivarius PS2 during late pregnancy and early lactation was safe and effective in preventing mastitis, which is one of the main barriers for continuing breastfeeding.


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