Il. Bernstein et al., HOW DOES AURANOFIN COMPARE WITH METHOTREXATE AND CYCLOSPORINE AS A CORTICOSTEROID-SPARING AGENT IN SEVERE ASTHMA, Biodrugs, 8(3), 1997, pp. 205-215
Despite optimal anti-inflammatory treatment of asthma, including use o
f high dosage, high potency inhaled corticosteroids, a subset of corti
costeroid-dependent patients require substantial amounts of daily syst
emic corticosteroids for adequate control. Several anti-inflammatory m
odulating agents (auranofin, methotrexate and cyclosporin) have been e
valuated for their corticosteroid-sparing properties under such circum
stances. This analysis was gleaned primarily from randomised, double-b
lind, placebo-controlled trials of these agents. Global assessment of
corticosteroid-sparing efficacy of these drugs revealed an advantage o
f auranofin over both methotrexate and cyclosporin. In addition, the c
omparative adverse event profiles of these drugs indicated that aurano
fin exhibited milder, more tolerable adverse effects. Therefore, auran
ofin presents a better risk : benefit option in initial attempts to we
an dependent patients from corticosteroids.