KIT Inhibition by Imatinib in Patients with Severe Refractory Asthma.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Mast cells are present in the airways of patients who have severe asthma despite glucocorticoid treatment; these cells are associated with disease characteristics including poor quality of life and inadequate asthma control. Stem cell factor and its receptor, KIT, are central to mast-cell homeostasis. We conducted a proof-of-principle trial to evaluate the effect of imatinib, a KIT inhibitor, on airway hyperresponsiveness, a physiological marker of severe asthma, as well as on airway mast-cell numbers and activation in patients with severe asthma.

Methods

We conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, 24-week trial of imatinib in patients with poorly controlled severe asthma who had airway hyperresponsiveness despite receiving maximal medical therapy

SUBMITTER: Cahill KN 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5568669 | biostudies-literature | 2017 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature