José Gregorio Soto Campos

Benralizumab is a monoclonal antibody used in the maintenance treatment of severe asthma. Now, a phase 2 clinical trial has tested its use in asthma attacks or exacerbations of COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) in 158 patients. The results, published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine, indicate that it was more effective than standard corticosteroid-based treatment and that more patients responded to it. According to the authors, these data could be ‘a game changer’ in the treatment of this type of attack.

Chinese researchers have designed an asthma treatment based on CAR-T cells. A single injection of these cells, modified to attack the eosinophils themselves - a type of white blood cell that is activated by certain infections and allergies - achieved remission of the signs and symptoms of the disease for at least a year in mice. According to the authors, the technique will need to be tested in human clinical trials, but could be useful for treating both asthma and other types of allergies. The results are published in the journal Nature Immunology. 

An international team of researchers, with Spanish participation, has proposed in the journal Science a new mechanism to explain asthma attacks more fully. According to their hypothesis, the mechanical forces that occur during these episodes cause cells to accumulate in excess, leading to a process of elimination called "cell extrusion". As a result, the tissue is damaged, loses its barrier function and increases the risk of successive attacks. Inhibitors of this mechanism improved damage and inflammation in laboratory mice.