Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 Jan 24:10:1630.
doi: 10.3389/fphar.2019.01630. eCollection 2019.

Physical Activity as a New Tool to Evaluate the Response to Omalizumab and Mepolizumab in Severe Asthmatic Patients: A Pilot Study

Giovanna Elisiana Carpagnano  1 , Francesco Sessa  2 , Giulia Scioscia  1 , Donato Lacedonia  1 , Maria Pia Foschino  1 , Maria Pia Venuti  1 , Antonio Ivano Triggiani  2 , Anna Valenzano  2 , Onofrio Resta  3 , Giuseppe Cibelli  2 , Giovanni Messina  2
Affiliations

Physical Activity as a New Tool to Evaluate the Response to Omalizumab and Mepolizumab in Severe Asthmatic Patients: A Pilot Study

Giovanna Elisiana Carpagnano et al. Front Pharmacol. .

Abstract

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory airway disease, representing one of the most severe pathologies in developed countries. Based on a report of the World Health Organization (WHO), it affects about 300 million people worldwide. Few studies have analyzed the effects of daily life physical activity (PA) levels in patients with asthma: moreover, little research has been carried out on PA levels in patients suffering from severe asthma (SA). This study aimed to investigate the PA levels in two groups of patients suffering from SA; in particular, this study analyzed the changes that occur in patients treated with biologic therapy (BT group) and patients who underwent traditional treatment (TT group) over 6 months. Moreover, this study represents a pilot study because, to the best of our knowledge, it is the first investigation that analyzed if the kind of biologic drug (omalizumab or mepolizumab) can produce differences in the PA levels of SA patients. Fifty SA patients were enrolled and PA parameters were monitored for 6 months. Subjects were divided into two treatment groups: TT (20 patients) and BT (30 patients), the BT group was further subdivided according to the drugs used (15, omalizumab; 15, mepolizumab). During drug treatment, all subjects improved their PA levels: indeed, considering the intragroup variation, the PA levels were significantly higher comparing the T6 levels to baseline (T0, p < 0.01). Considering the intragroup variation, it is very interesting to note that biologic therapy improved PA levels compared to the effects of traditional therapy; while at T0 there were no significant differences in the steps per day (SPD) values between the two groups (T0, p = 0.85), the differences become statistically significant at T1, T3, and T6 (T1, p = 0.019; T3, p = 3.48x10-6; T6, p = 4.78x10-10). As expected, the same differences were reported analyzing the energy expenditure data. In conclusion, this pilot study reports a positive relationship between biologic drug therapy and PA patterns, even if further studies are needed.

Keywords: mepolizumab; omalizumab; physical activity; quality of life; severe asthma.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Two groups were enrolled: biological treatment group (BT group) and traditional treatment group (TT group). The BT group was further subdivided under drug criteria: omalizumab group and mepolizumab group. All groups were tested at different times: T0 (first administration of the biologic agent); T1 (after 1 month); T3 (after 3 months); T6 (after 6 months).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Number of SPD (steps per day) variation at different experimental times in the TT (traditional therapy) group (1A) and in the BT (biological therapy) group (1B).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Number of steps per day (SPD) variations at different follow-ups in the biologic therapy (BT) omalizumab group and in the BT mepolizumab group.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Total EE (estimated energy expenditure) variation at different follow-ups in the biologic therapy (BT) omalizumab group and in the BT mepolizumab group.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Aggarwal B., Mulgirigama A., Berend N. (2018). Exercise-induced bronchoconstriction: prevalence, pathophysiology, patient impact, diagnosis and management. NPJ Prim. Care Respir. Med. 28 (1), 31. 10.1038/s41533-018-0098-2 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Avallone K. M., McLeish A. C. (2013). Asthma and aerobic exercise: a review of the empirical literature. J. Asthma 50, 109–116. 10.3109/02770903.2012.759963 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Bahmer T., Waschki B., Schatz F., Herzmann C., Zabel P., Kirsten A.-M., et al. (2017). Physical activity, airway resistance and small airway dysfunction in severe asthma. Eur. Respir. J. 49 (1), 1601827. 10.1183/13993003.01827-2016 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Blair S. N., Kohl H. W., Paffenbarger R. S., Clark D. G., Cooper K. H., Gibbons L. W. (1989). Physical fitness and all-cause mortality: a prospective study of healthy men and women. JAMA J. Am. Med. Assoc. 262, 2395–2401. 10.1001/jama.1989.03430170057028 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Canonica G. W., Rottoli P., Bucca C., Zappa M. C., Michetti G., Macciocchi B., et al. (2018). Improvement of patient-reported outcomes in severe allergic asthma by omalizumab treatment: the real life observational PROXIMA study. World Allergy Organ. J. 11, 33. 10.1186/s40413-018-0214-3 - DOI - PMC - PubMed