What Is The Possible Outcome Of Mepolizumab Therapy To Decrease Prednisone Intake?

Posted on Mon, 3 Feb 2014

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Mon, 3 Feb 2014 Answered on

Wed, 19 Feb 2014 Last reviewed on

Question : I would like to know if you know about the outcomes of mepolizumab therapy in order to decrease taking prednisone I have severe asthma and high Eosinophils unles on steroids. But the side effects are serious as you know. I read contradictory results from mepolizumab. My main question is: does a person have to be treated with it indefinetely or is for a limited mount of time. There is a study on the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology about the outcomes after cessation of the drug (a 12 month follow up) but I don't know if it is worth purchasing the study in case I cannot understand it. Please advise based on what you have studied.

Answered by Dr. Sujoy Khan (3 hours later)

Brief Answer: Limited data on long term efficacy Detailed Answer: Hello, Welcome to Healthcare Magic and thank you for writing to us. You have steroid-refractory eosinophilic asthma for which mepoiluzumab, anti-IL5, was specifically used in the study published in NEJM (New England J Medicine; N Engl J Med 2009; 360:973-984). This involved monthly injections for one year with follow up for the 50-week study period. The study clearly stated that mepolizumab therapy had no effect on asthma symptoms, FENO, or lung function, although they improved after steroids were continued following completion of mepolizumab therapy. Several factors remained unaccounted for: such as outdoor air pollution, whether patients had aspirin-induced asthma, what was the asthma phenotype etc. So you might want to ask these to your treating physician. Mepolizumab could indeed be tried in your case provided you are in a good Respiratory referral center. Best Wishes.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Shanthi.E