Giving patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease newly available oral phosphodiesterase 4 (PDE4) inhibitors, roflumilast or cilomilast, improves lung function and reduces the likelihood of a flare-up, but does not increase general quality of life.
Roflumilast and cilomilast are members of a new class of medicines, and trials have now evaluated their safety and performance. A team of researchers looked at data from nine trials of roflumilast and 14 trials of cilomilast involving over 1000 patients.
Treatment with a PDE4 inhibitor was associated with a reduced likelihood of COPD exacerbation, but more participants in the treatment groups experienced non-serious adverse events compared with controls, particularly gastrointestinal symptoms and headache. Roflumilast was associated with weight loss during the trial period.
So far trials have run for only 1 year or less, indicating a need to look at longer-lasting effects.
For more information, go to www.thecochranelibrary.com [8].
Links
[1] https://bcmj.org/cover/julyaugust-2011
[2] https://bcmj.org/node/4073
[3] https://bcmj.org/print/news/phosphodiesterase-4-inhibitors-have-only-marginal-benefits-copd
[4] https://bcmj.org/printmail/news/phosphodiesterase-4-inhibitors-have-only-marginal-benefits-copd
[5] http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https://bcmj.org/print/4315&via=BCMedicalJrnl&tw_p=tweetbutton&via=BCMedicalJrnl&tw_p=tweetbutton&via=BCMedicalJrnl&tw_p=tweetbutton
[6] https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=Phosphodiesterase 4 inhibitors have only marginal benefits in COPD&url=https://bcmj.org/print/4315&via=BCMedicalJrnl&tw_p=tweetbutton&via=BCMedicalJrnl&tw_p=tweetbutton&via=BCMedicalJrnl&tw_p=tweetbutton&via=BCMedicalJrnl&tw_p=tweetbutton
[7] https://bcmj.org/javascript%3A%3B
[8] http://www.thecochranelibrary.com/
[9] https://bcmj.org/modal_forms/nojs/webform/176
[10] https://bcmj.org/%3Finline%3Dtrue%23citationpop