Pl. Shah et al., 2 YEARS EXPERIENCE WITH RECOMBINANT HUMAN DNASE-I IN THE TREATMENT OFPULMONARY-DISEASE IN CYSTIC-FIBROSIS, Respiratory medicine, 89(7), 1995, pp. 499-502
Citations number
20
Categorie Soggetti
Cardiac & Cardiovascular System","Respiratory System
Recombinant human DNase I(rhDNase) has been shown to improve pulmonary
function in patients treated for up to 6 months. A cohort of 52 cysti
c fibrosis patients with a FVC > 40% predicted were enrolled into an o
pen label study in order to evaluate longer-term effects of rhDNase. T
hey received 2.5 mg rhDNase twice daily for 6 months followed by a 2-w
eek wash-out period, and for the subsequent 18 months were treated wit
h rhDNase once daily. Twenty-six male and 26 female patients with a me
an FVC of 2.941 and FEV(1) of 1.471 were recruited. Thirteen patients
did not complete the study; there were seven deaths, three patients wi
thdrew consent and three patients were lost to follow-up. Improvement
in pulmonary function was seen following treatment and changes were ev
aluated as mean percent change from baseline. The maximum improvement
occurred in the first month followed by a plateau at a lower level of
improvement. The mean improvement in FEV, over the first month was 13.
3% (range 12-14.1%), followed by a plateau at around 7.1% (range 4.6-1
1.0%) for the subsequent 23 months. Mean FVC was improved by 12.03% (r
ange 9.0-14.3%) over the first month and subsequently 4.2% (range - 2.
2-10.2%). The effects on pulmonary function were similar for both trea
tment doses of rhDNase. There was also a steady improvement in weight
from a mean of 54.2 kg to 55.7 kg at the end of the study. Analysis of
the results of only those patients who completed the full 2-yr treatm
ent period show that changes in pulmonary function and weight were sim
ilar to those observed for the whole group. The death rate and adverse
event profile were consistent with that seen in a cystic fibrosis pop
ulation. This study confirms that longer-term treatment with rhDNase m
aintains the improvement in lung function, is associated with weight g
ain and has a good safety profile.