The combination of three drugs helps reduce inflammation of the lungs in people with cystic fibrosis.
- A combination of three drugs is effective in the treatment of cystic fibrosis.
- It thins the mucus in the airways and reduces inflammation in the lungs.
- Its effects persist for at least a year.
Cystic fibrosis is a serious disease. But from year to year, scientists manage to better understand it and improve the quality of life of people who suffer from it. In the European Respiratory Journalresearchers present one of their recent advances: the combination of three drugs, or triple therapy, which would be effective in treating patients with cystic fibrosis, and we note that its beneficial effects last over time.
Triple therapy: an effective long-term treatment method
Previous work had demonstrated the interest of the combination of three drugs: elexacaftor, tezacaftor and ivacaftor. It improves the quality of life but especially lung health. This time, the research team was interested in the duration of these benefits. To find out, the researchers took a closer look at the sputum, that is to say the secretions of the respiratory tract, of the 79 participants, adults and adolescents with cystic fibrosis or chronic lung disease.
“In patients with cystic fibrosis, the mucus in the airways is very sticky because it does not contain enough water and mucins, the molecules that form mucus, adhere too much due to their chemical properties. This results in thick, sticky mucus, which clogs the airways, making it harder for patients to breathe and leading to chronic bacterial infection and inflammation of the lungs.”, explains Marcus Mall, lead author of this study. However, with the combination of the three treatments, the mucus in the airways is not as sticky and the inflammation in the lungs is considerably reduced. This new trial demonstrates that these benefits of triple therapy last at least a year. “This is really important because previous medications caused a rebound in bacterial load in the airways“, comments Dr. Simon Gräber, one of the co-leaders of the study.
Cystic fibrosis: a lead towards new treatments?
According to the authors, this discovery is a “major advance”. “It would be premature to say that the patients have been stabilized, let alone curedhowever, warns Dr. Mall. Chronic lung changes that occur during the disease, unfortunately, cannot be reversedThe new findings won’t change the way the disease is managed: Patients will still need to take their treatment with anti-mucosal drugs and antibiotics as well as undergo physical therapy. But the scientists hope to take their findings further : “We plan to do research on how to make treatments (…) even more effective, continues this specialist. This includes starting treatment in infancy with the goal of preventing chronic lung changes whenever possible.” According to thePastor Institutecystic fibrosis affects about one in 2,500 births in Europe and North America.
