Treatment with lansoprazole associated with increased number of respiratory infections
TUESDAY, Jan. 24 (HealthDay News) -- For children with asthma without overt gastroesophageal reflux (GER), treatment with the proton pump inhibitor (PPI) lansoprazole is not associated with improved asthma control, according to a study published in the Jan. 25 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Janet T. Holbrook, M.P.H., Ph.D., from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, and colleagues from the American Lung Association Asthma Clinical Research Centers investigated the effectiveness of lansoprazole for reducing asthma symptoms in 306 children (mean age, 11 years) without overt GER, who were receiving inhaled corticosteroid treatment. One hundred forty-nine children were randomly allocated to receive lansoprazole, and 157 to receive placebo. The main outcome measured was the change in Asthma Control Questionnaire (ACQ) score.
The investigators found that the mean difference in change in the ACQ score was 0.2 units for lansoprazole minus placebo. There were no significant differences in the mean difference in change of forced expiratory volume in one second, asthma-related quality of life, or the rate of episodes of poor asthma control. Lansoprazole treatment was associated with more respiratory infections (relative risk, 1.3; 95 percent confidence interval, 1.1 to 1.6).
"The results of our study indicate that PPI treatment of children with poorly controlled asthma without symptomatic GER was not an effective therapy for asthma and there may be significant safety concerns for long-term PPI use in children," the authors write.
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