Background: Dupilumab blocks the shared receptor component for IL-4 and IL-13, key drivers of type 2 inflammation, including IgE-mediated allergic inflammation in asthma. In the LIBERTY ASTHMA QUEST (NCT02414854) study, dupilumab reduced severe asthma exacerbations and improved forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) in patients with uncontrolled, moderate-to-severe asthma with greater efficacy observed in patients with elevated type 2 inflammatory biomarkers (blood eosinophils and fractional exhaled nitric oxide) at baseline.
Objective: We assessed dupilumab's effect on key asthma outcomes in QUEST patients with/without evidence of allergic asthma (total serum IgE ≥30 IU/mL and ≥1 perennial aeroallergen-specific IgE ≥0.35 kU/L at baseline).
Methods: Severe exacerbation rates and change from baseline in FEV1, asthma control, and markers of type 2 inflammation during the 52-week treatment period were assessed.
Results: In the allergic asthma subgroup (n = 1083), dupilumab 200/300 mg every 2 weeks versus placebo reduced severe asthma exacerbation rates (-36.9%/-45.5%; both P < .01), improved FEV1 at week 12 (0.13 L/0.16 L; both P < .001; improvements were evident by the first evaluation at week 2) with greater efficacy observed in patients with elevated type 2 inflammatory biomarkers at baseline, and improved asthma control. Dupilumab treatment also resulted in rapid and sustained reductions in type 2 inflammatory biomarkers. Comparable results were observed in patients without evidence of allergic asthma (n = 819).
Conclusion: Dupilumab reduced severe exacerbation rates, improved FEV1 and asthma control, and suppressed type 2 inflammatory biomarkers in patients with uncontrolled, moderate-to-severe asthma with or without evidence of allergic asthma, highlighting the key role of IL-4 and IL-13 in airway inflammation.
Keywords: ACQ-5; Allergic; Asthma; Biomarkers; Dupilumab; Exacerbation; FEV(1); IL-13; IL-4; IgE.
Copyright © 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.