231
Views
4
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Three Generations of Ongoing Controversies Concerning the Use of Short Acting Beta-Agonist Therapy in Asthma: A Review

, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H.
Pages 9-18 | Published online: 02 Jul 2009

References

  • Speizer F E, Doll R, Heaf P. Observations on recent increase in mortality from asthma. BMJ 1968; 1: 335–339
  • Bremner P, Siebers R, Crane J, Beasley R, Burgess C. Partial versus full beta-receptor agonism. A clinical study of inhaled albuterol and fenoterol. Chest 1996; 109: 957–962
  • Stolley P D. Asthma mortality. Why the United States was spared an epidemic of deaths due to asthma. Am Rev Respir Dis. 1972; 105: 883–890
  • Stolley P D, Schinnar R. Association between asthma mortality and isoproterenol aerosols: a review. Prev Med. 1978; 7: 519–538
  • Beasley R. A historical perspective of the New Zealand asthma mortality epidemics. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2006; 117: 225–228
  • Crane J, Pearce N, Flatt A, Burgess C, Jackson R, Kwong T, Ball M, Beasley R. Prescribed fenoterol and death from asthma in New Zealand, 1981–83: case control study. Lancet 1989; 1: 917–922
  • Sears M R. Changing patterns in asthma morbidity and mortality. J Investig Allergol Clin Immunol. 1995; 5: 66–72
  • Spitzer W O, Suissa S, Ernst P, Horwitz R I, Habbick B, Cockcroft D, Boivin J F, McNutt M, Buist A S, Rebuck A S. The use of beta-agonists and the risk of death and near death from asthma. N Engl J Med. 1992; 32: 501–506
  • Blais L, Ernst P, Suissa S. Confounding by indication and channeling over time: the risks of beta 2-agonists. Am J Epidemiol. 1996; 144: 1161–1169
  • Suissa S, Ernst P, Benayoun S, Baltzan M, Cai B. Low dose inhaled corticosteroids and the prevention of death from asthma. N Engl J Med. 2000; 343: 332–336
  • Barnes P J. Rebuttal by Dr. Barnes. Am J Respir Crit Care Med 2006; 174(9)974
  • Beasley R, Pearce N, Crane J, Burgess C. Beta-agonists: what is the evidence that their use increases the risk of asthma morbidity and mortality?. J Allergy Clin Immunol 1999; 104: S18–S30, (2 Pt 2)
  • Sears M R, Taylor D R. The beta 2-agonist controversy. Observations, explanations and relationship to asthma epidemiology. Drug Saf. 1994; 11: 259–283
  • Chapman K R, Kesten S, Szalai J P. Regular versus as-needed inhaled salbutamol in asthma control. Lancet 1994; 343: 1379–1382
  • Drazen J M, Israel E, Boushey H A, Chinchilli V M, Fahy J V, Fish J E, Lazarus S C, Lemanske R F, Martin R J, Peters S P, Sorkness C, Szefler S J. Comparison of regularly scheduled with as-needed use of albuterol in mild asthma. N Engl J Med. 1996; 335: 841–847
  • Salpeter S R, Ormiston T M, Salpeter E E. Meta-analysis: respiratory tolerance to regular beta2-agonist use in patients with asthma. Ann Intern Med. 2004; 140: 802–813
  • Abramson M J, Walters J, Walters E H. Adverse effects of beta-agonists: are they clinically relevant?. Am J Respir Med 2003; 2: 287–297
  • Walle U K, Pesola G R, Walle T. Stereoselective sulphate conjugation of salbutamol in humans: comparison of hepatic, intestinal and platelet activity. Br J Clin Pharmacol. 1993; 35: 413–418
  • Eaton E A, Walle U K, Wilson H M, Aberg G, Walle T. Stereoselective sulphate conjugation of salbutamol by human lung and bronchial epithelial cells. Br J Clin Pharmacol. 1996; 41: 201–206
  • Dhand R, Goode M, Reid R, Fink J B, Fahey P J, Tobin M J. Preferential pulmonary retention of (S)-albuterol after inhalation of racemic albuterol. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 1999; 160: 1136–1141
  • Nowak R. Single-isomer levalbuterol: a review of the acute data. Curr Allergy Asthma Rep. 2003; 3: 172–178
  • Agrawal D K, Ariyarathna K, Kelbe P W. (S)-Albuterol activates pro-constrictory and pro-inflammatory pathways in human bronchial smooth muscle cells. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2004; 113: 503–510
  • Templeton A G, Chapman I D, Chilvers E R, Morley J, Handley D A. Effects of S-salbutamol on human isolated bronchus. Pulm Pharmacol Ther. 1998; 11: 1–6
  • Volcheck G W, Kelkar P, Bartemes K R, Gleich G J, Kita H. Effects of (R)- and (S)-isomers of beta-adrenergic agonists on eosinophil response to interleukin-5. Clin Exp Allergy 2005; 35: 1341–1346
  • Page C P, Morley J. Contrasting properties of albuterol stereoisomers. J Allergy Clin Immunol 1999; 104: S31–S41, (2 Pt 2)
  • Miranda C, Busacker A, Balzar S, Trudeau J, Wenzel S E. Distinguishing severe asthma phenotypes. Role of age at onset and eosinophilic inflammation. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2004; 113(1)101–108
  • Johnson M. Effects of beta2-agonists on resident and infiltrating inflammatory cells. J Allergy Clin Immunol 2002; 110: S282–S290
  • Mitra S, Ugur M, Ugur O. (S)-albuterol increases intracellular free calcium by muscarinic receptor activation and a phospholipase C-dependent mechanism in airway smooth muscle. Mol Pharmacol. 1998; 53: 347–354
  • Ameredes B T, Calhoun W J. Modulation of GM-CSF release by enantiomers of beta-agonists in human airway smooth muscle. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2005; 116: 65–72
  • Ameredes B T, Calhoun W J. Rebuttal by Drs. Ameredes and Calhoun. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2006; 174: 972–974
  • Agrawal D K, Kelbe P W. (S)-Albuterol binds to intracellular organelles and proteins in human airway smooth muscle cells. Am J Respir Crit Care Med 2004; 169: A310, [abstract]
  • Agrawal D K, Kim M J, Kelbe P W, Bakale R. Class-Specificity of the Binding of [3H](S)-Albuterol in Human Airway Smooth Muscle Cells. Proc Am Thorac Soc April, 2006; 3: A467, [abstract]
  • Chorley B N, Li Y, Fang S, Park J A, Adler K B. (R)-albuterol elicits antiinflammatory effects in human airway epithelial cells via iNOS. Am J Respir Cell Mol Biol. 2006; 34: 119–127
  • Kuo A, Craig T J. A retrospective study of risk factors for repeated admissions for asthma in a rural/suburban university hospital. J Am Osteopath Assoc 2001; 101: S14–S17, (5 Suppl)
  • Hakonarson H, Maskeri N, Carter C, Hodinka R L, Campbell D, Grunstein M M. Mechanism of rhinovirus-induced changes in airway smooth muscle responsiveness. J Clin Invest. 1998; 102: 1732–1741
  • Barnes P J, Adcock I M. How do corticosteroids work in asthma?. Ann Intern Med 2003; 139: 359–370, (5 Pt 1)
  • Lehmann P A, Rodrigues de Miranda J F, Ariens E J. Stereoselectivity and affinity in molecular pharmacology. Prog Drug Res 1976, 20: 101–142
  • Jalba M S. Eudismic Ratio and Enantiomeric Purity of the Albuterol Distomer. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2004; 114: 990–991
  • Vakily M, Mehvar R, Brocks D. Stereoselective pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of anti-asthma agents. Ann Pharmacother. 2002; 36: 693–701
  • Perrin-Fayolle M, Blum P S, Morley J, Grosclaude M, Chambe M T. Differential responses of asthmatic airways to enantiomers of albuterol. Implications for clinical treatment of asthma. Clin Rev Allergy Immunol 1996; 14: 139–147, Spring
  • Cockcroft D W, Swystun V A. Effect of single doses of S-salbutamol, R-salbutamol, racemic salbutamol, and placebo on the airway response to methacholine. Thorax 1997; 52: 845–848
  • Nelson H S, Bensch G, Pleskow W W. Improved bronchodilation with levalbuterol compared with racemic albuterol in patients with asthma. J Allergy Clin Immunol 1998; 102: 943–952, (6 Pt 1)
  • Gawchik S M, Saccar C L, Noonan M, Reasner D S, De Graw S S. The safety and efficacy of nebulized levalbuterol compared with racemic albuterol and placebo in the treatment of asthma in pediatric patients. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 1999; 103(4)615–621
  • Cockcroft D W, Davis B E, Swystun V A, Marciniuk D D. Tolerance to the bronchoprotective effect of beta2-agonists: comparison of the enantiomers of salbutamol with racemic salbutamol and placebo. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 1999; 103: 1049–1053
  • Ramsay C M, Cowan J, Flannery E, McLachlan C, Taylor D R. Bronchoprotective and bronchodilator effects of single doses of (S)-salbutamol, (R)-salbutamol and racemic salbutamol in patients with bronchial asthma. Eur J Clin Pharmacol. 1999; 55: 353–359
  • Handley D A, Tinkelman D, Noonan M, Rollins T E, Snider M E, Caron J. Dose-response evaluation of levalbuterol versus racemic albuterol in patients with asthma. J Asthma 2000; 37: 319–327
  • Lötvall J, Palmqvist M, Arvidsson P, Maloney A, Ventresca G P, Ward J. The therapeutic ratio of R-albuterol is comparable with that of RS-albuterol in asthmatic patients. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2001; 108: 726–731
  • Milgrom H, Skoner D P, Bensch G, Kim K T, Claus R. Baumgartner RA; Levalbuterol Pediatric Study Group. Low-dose levalbuterol in children with asthma: safety and efficacy in comparison with placebo and racemic albuterol. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2001; 108: 938–945
  • Carl J C, Myers T R, Kirchner H L, Kercsmar C M. Comparison of racemic albuterol and levalbuterol for treatment of acute asthma. J Pediatr. 2003; 143: 731–736
  • Nowak R M, Emerman C L, Schaefer K, Disantostefano R L, Vaickus L. Roach JM. Levalbuterol compared with racemic albuterol in the treatment of acute asthma: results of a pilot study. Am J Emerg Med. 2004; 22: 29–36
  • Sjosward K N, Hmani M, Davidsson A, Soderkvist P, Schmekel B. Single-isomer R-salbutamol is not superior to racemate regarding protection for bronchial hyperresponsiveness. Respir Med. 2004; 98: 990–999
  • Hardasmalani M D, De Bari V, Bithoney W G, Gold N. Levalbuterol versus racemic albuterol in the treatment of acute exacerbation of asthma in children. Pediatr Emerg Care 2005; 21: 415–419
  • Qureshi F, Zaritsky A, Welch C, Meadows T, Burke B L. Clinical efficacy of racemic albuterol versus levalbuterol for the treatment of acute pediatric asthma. Ann Emerg Med. 2005; 46: 29–36
  • Ralston M E, Euwema M S, Knecht K R, Ziolkowski T J, Coakley T A, Cline S M. Comparison of levalbuterol and racemic albuterol combined with ipratropium bromide in acute pediatric asthma: a randomized controlled trial. J Emerg Med. 2005; 29: 29–35
  • Schreck D M, Babin S. Comparison of racemic albuterol and levalbuterol in the treatment of acute asthma in the ED. Am J Emerg Med. 2005; 23: 842–847
  • Skoner D P, Greos L S, Kim K T, Roach J M, Parsey M, Baumgartner R A. Evaluation of the safety and efficacy of levalbuterol in 2–5-year-old patients with asthma. Pediatr Pulmonol. 2005; 40: 477–486
  • Nowak R, Emerman C, Hanrahan J P, Parsey M V, Hanania N A, Claus R, Schaefer K. Baumgartner RA; XOPENEX Acute Severe Asthma Study Group. A comparison of levalbuterol with racemic albuterol in the treatment of acute severe asthma exacerbations in adults. Am J Emerg Med. 2006; 24: 259–267
  • Berger W E, Milgrom H, Skoner D P, Tripp K, Parsey M V. Baumgartner RA; Xopenex Pediatric Asthma Group. Evaluation of levalbuterol metered dose inhaler in pediatric patients with asthma: a double-blind, randomized, placebo- and active-controlled trial. Curr Med Res Opin. 2006; 22: 1217–26
  • Jantikar A, Brashier B, Maganji M, Raghupathy A, Mahadik P, Gokhale P, Gogtay J, Salvi S. Comparison of bronchodilator responses of levosalbutamol and salbutamol given via a pressurized metered dose inhaler: a randomized, double blind, single-dose, crossover study. Respir Med 2007; 101: 845–9, Epub 2007 Feb 1
  • Ameredes B T, Calhoun W J. (R)-albuterol for asthma: Pro[a.k.a (S)-albuterol for asthma: Con]. Am J Respir Crit Care Med 2006; 174: 965–969
  • Barnes PJ. Treatment with (R)-albuterol has no advantage over racemic albuterol. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2006; 174(9)969–972
  • Milgrom H. Levosalbutamol in the treatment of asthma. Expert Opin Pharmacother. 2006; 7: 1659–1668
  • Krishnan J A, Riekert K A, McCoy J V, Stewart D Y, Schmidt S, Chanmugam A, Hill P, Rand C S. Corticosteroid use after hospital discharge among high-risk adults with asthma. Am J Respir Crit Care Med 2004; 170: 1281–1285, Epub 2004 Sep 16
  • McGraw D W, Almoosa K F, Paul R J, Kobilka B K, Liggett S B. Antithetic regulation by beta-adrenergic receptors of Gq receptor signaling via phospholipase C underlies the airway beta-agonist paradox. J Clin Invest. 2003; 112: 619–626
  • Johnson M. Molecular Mechanisms of β 2-adrenergic receptor function, response and regulation. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2006; 117: 18–24
  • Israel E, Drazen J M, Liggett S B, Boushey H A, Cherniack R M, Chinchilli V M, Cooper D M, Fahy J V, Fish J E, Ford J G, Kraft M, Kunselman S, Lazarus S C, Lemanske R F, Martin R J, McLean D E, Peters S P, Silverman E K, Sorkness C A, Szefler S J, Weiss S T, Yandava C N. The effect of polymorphisms of the beta(2)-adrenergic receptor on the response to regular use of albuterol in asthma. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2000; 162: 75–80
  • Israel E, Chinchilli V M, Ford J G, Boushey H A, Cherniack R, Craig T J, Deykin A, Fagan J K, Fahy J V, Fish J, Kraft M, Kunselman S J, Lazarus S C, Lemanske R F, Jr, Liggett S B, Martin R J, Mitra N, Peters S P, Silverman E, Sorkness C A, Szefler S J, Wechsler M E, Weiss S T. Drazen JM; National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute's Asthma Clinical Research Network. Use of regularly scheduled albuterol treatment in asthma: genotype-stratified, randomised, placebo-controlled cross-over trial. Lancet 2004; 364: 1505–1512
  • Israel E. Genetics and the variability of treatment response in asthma. J Allergy Clin Immunol 2005; 115: S532–S538, (4 Suppl)
  • Cho S H, Oh S Y, Bahn J W, Choi J Y, Chang Y S, Kim Y K, Min K U, Kim Y Y. Association between bronchodilating response to short-acting beta-agonist and non-synonymous single-nucleotide polymorphisms of beta-adrenoceptor gene. Clin Exp Allergy 2005; 35: 1162–1167
  • Taylor D R, Epton M J, Kennedy M A, Smith A D, Iles S, Miller A L, Littlejohn M D, Cowan J O, Hewitt T, Swanney M P, Brassett K P, Herbison G P. Bronchodilator response in relation to beta2-adrenoceptor haplotype in patients with asthma. Am J Respir Crit Care Med 2005; 172: 700–703, Epub 2005 Jun 23
  • Strauss L, Hejal R, Galan G, Dixon L, McFadden E R, Jr. Observations on the effects of aerosolized albuterol in acute asthma. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 1997; 155: 454–458
  • Song P, Milanese M, Crimi E, Bruzzone S, Zocchi E, Rehder K, Brusasco V. G(s) protein dysfunction in allergen-challenged human isolated passively sensitized bronchi. Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol 2000; 279: L209–L215
  • Shore S A, Drazen J M. Beta-agonists and asthma: too much of a good thing?. J Clin Invest 2003; 112: 495–497
  • Tepe N M, Liggett S B. Functional receptor coupling to Gi is a mechanism of agonist-promoted desensitization of the beta2-adrenergic receptor. J Recept Signal Transduct Res. 2000; 20: 75–85
  • Eisner M D, Lieu T A, Chi F, Capra A M, Mendoza G R, Selby J V, Blanc P D. Beta agonists, inhaled steroids, and the risk of intensive care unit admission for asthma. Eur Respir J 2001; 17: 233–240
  • Contopoulos-Ioannidis D G, Manoli E N, Ioannidis J P. Meta-analysis of the association of beta2-adrenergic receptor polymorphisms with asthma phenotypes. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2005; 115: 963–972
  • Swift S M, Schwarb M R, Mihlbachler K A, Liggett S B. Pleiotropic beta-agonist-promoted receptor conformations and signals independent of intrinsic activity. Am J Respir Cell Mol Biol. 2007; 36: 236–243
  • Lowe K C. Xopenex: The beginning of a new trend in pharmaceutics or all hype ?. PharmaNote 2005; 20(8)1–8
  • Fenech A, Hall I P. Pharmacogenetics of asthma. Br J Clin Pharmacol. 2002; 53: 3–15

Reprints and Corporate Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

To request a reprint or corporate permissions for this article, please click on the relevant link below:

Academic Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

Obtain permissions instantly via Rightslink by clicking on the button below:

If you are unable to obtain permissions via Rightslink, please complete and submit this Permissions form. For more information, please visit our Permissions help page.