Bronchial thermoplasty improves cough hypersensitivity and cough in severe asthmatics.

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Cough is a troublesome symptom of asthma because it is associated with disease severity and poor asthma control. Bronchial thermoplasty (BT) may be effective in improving cough severity and cough-related quality of life in severe uncontrolled asthma.

OBJECTIVE:

To evaluate the efficacy of BT for cough in severe uncontrolled asthma.

METHODS:

Twelve patients with severe uncontrolled asthma were enrolled in this study between 2018 May and March 2021 and arbitrarily divided into cough-predominant [cough severity Visual Analog Scale (VAS) ≥ 40 mm, n = 8] and typical asthma (cough VAS <40 mm, n = 4) groups. Clinical parameters, such as capsaicin cough sensitivity [C-CS: the concentrations to inhaled capsaicin required to induce at least two (C2) and five (C5) coughs], lung function, and type-2-related biomarkers (fractional nitric oxides and absolute eosinophil counts) and cough-related indices [cough severity VAS and the Leicester Cough Questionnaire (LCQ)] were evaluated before and 3 months after performing BT.

RESULTS:

BT significantly improved both cough-related indices and C-CS in the cough-predominant group. Changes in C-CS were significantly correlated with changes in the LCQ scores (C5: r = 0.65, p = 0.02 for all patients, and r = 0.81, p = 0.01 for the cough-predominant group).

CONCLUSIONS:

BT may be effective for cough in severe uncontrolled asthma by improving C-CS. However, further larger cohort studies are necessary to confirm the effect of BT for cough in asthma.

CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION:

This study was registered in the UMIN Clinical Trials Registry (Registry ID UMIN: 000031982).

• Authors: Hirono Nishiyama, Yoshihiro Kanemitsu, Johsuke Hara, Kensuke Fukumitsu, Norihisa Takeda, Ryota Kurokawa, Keima Ito, Tomoko Tajiri, Satoshi Fukuda, Takehiro Uemura, Hirotsugu Ohkubo, Ken Maeno, Yutaka Ito, Tetsuya Oguri, Masaya Takemura, Akio Niimi
• Journal: Respiratory medicine (Respir Med) Vol. 216 Pg. 107303 (09 2023) ISSN: 1532-3064 [Electronic] England
• PMID: 37307903 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)
• Copyright: Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Chemical References

• Capsaicin

Topics

• Humans
• Cough (etiology, surgery)
• Bronchial Thermoplasty
• Capsaicin
• Quality of Life
• Asthma (drug therapy)