Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med., Vol 149, No. 4, 04 1994, 935-939.
Inhaled formoterol in the prevention of exercise-induced bronchoconstriction in asthmatic children
AL Boner, E Spezia, P Piovesan, E Chiocca and G Maiocchi
Pediatrics Department, University of Verona, Italy.
The duration and magnitude of the effect of inhaled formoterol (12
micrograms) against exercise-induced bronchoconstriction (EIB) was compared
with that of inhaled salbutamol (200 micrograms) and that of placebo in 15
children with asthma and EIB in a double-blind, double- dummy,
within-patient, placebo-controlled study. The treatments were given by
metered dose aerosol on three different days. The exercise test was
performed at the 3rd and the 12th hour after dosing. The magnitude of the
blocking effect was assessed both by evaluating the lowest FEV1 reading
obtained within an hour after each exercise test and by considering the
percent decrease below the baseline FEV1 measured before drug
administration. Comparison of the lowest values obtained during the hour
after each exercise test shows that formoterol was significantly better
than both salbutamol (p = 0.022), and placebo (p = 0.001) in limiting
exercise-induced bronchoconstriction after the first exercise test (3 h
after dosing), while no difference was observed between salbutamol and
placebo (p = 0.198). After the second exercise test (12 h after dosing),
formoterol again proved to be more effective than both salbutamol (p =
0.008) and placebo (p = 0.001), and no significant difference was observed
between salbutamol and placebo (p = 0.391). The evaluation of the mean
percentage decrease in FEV1 confirmed the results in favor of formoterol in
both the exercise tests. No adverse effects were reported in any treatment
group. The protection against EIB is significantly more prolonged after
formoterol than after salbutamol, and persists for 12 h after dosing.
