Pharmacology of novel treatments for COPD: are fixed dose combination LABA/LAMA synergistic?

ABSTRACT: Bronchodilators are mainstay for the symptomatic treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and the introduction of long-acting bronchodilators has led to an improvement in the maintenance treatment of this disease. Various clinical trials have evaluated the effects of fixed dose long-acting β2-agonists (LABA)/long-acting anti-muscarinics (LAMA) combinations and documented greater improvements in spirometry but such improvements do not always translate to greater improvements in symptom scores or reduction in the rates of exacerbation compared with a single component drug. An analysis of whether this significantly greater change in spirometry with combination therapy is additive or synergistic was undertaken and is the subject of this review. Bronchodilators are not disease

SUBMITTER: Spina D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4629759 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature