TOLERABILITY OF MOFEBUTAZONE IN ASTHMATIC-PATIENTS

Twenty-seven human volunteer asthmatic patients were each given one ta blet of mofebutazone (300 mg) twice daily for 15 days. Pulmonary venti latory function test (forced expiratory volume test) as well as bronch oalveolar lavage (BAL) were performed one day before initiation of tre atment and one day after completion of the course; in the BAL, prostag landin E(2) (PGE(2)), prostaglandin F-2 alpha (PGF(2 alpha)) and leuko trienes (LTs) were also estimated. It was found that there was no incr ease in the incidence or severity of the asthmatic attacks during the course of mofebutazone treatment. The drug tended to improve the teste d pulmonary ventilatory functions or at least to leave them unchanged. All the mofebutazone-treated individuals showed a dramatic reduction in the concentrations of PGE(2), PGF(2 alpha), and LTs in their BAL, b ut there was no consistent correlation between the extent of reduction and the degree of benefit or worsening sustained by any individual pa tient. It is evident from the present study that mofebutazone has show n good tolerability which was associated with an improvement in the pu lmonary ventilatory functions, a fact that would seem to advocate the use of this non-steroidal antiinflammatory drug (NSAID) in asthmatic p atients whenever a need for such therapy becomes necessary.