Blood Eosinophil Counts, Withdrawal of Inhaled Corticosteroids and Risk of COPD Exacerbations and Mortality in the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD)
- PMID: 31117850
- DOI: 10.1080/15412555.2019.1608172
Blood Eosinophil Counts, Withdrawal of Inhaled Corticosteroids and Risk of COPD Exacerbations and Mortality in the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD)
Abstract
Although recently introduced in the pharmacological treatment algorithm of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), there is a need for more data supporting the use of blood eosinophil counts as a biomarker to guide inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) therapy. The aim of this study was to evaluate the risk of moderate and/or severe exacerbations and all-cause mortality in a large primary care population after withdrawal of ICS compared to continued users stratified by elevated blood eosinophil counts. In this population based cohort study, we used data from the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) in the United Kingdom. We included subjects' aged 40 years or more who had a diagnosis of COPD. We excluded subjects with a history of asthma, pulmonary fibrosis, cardiac arrhythmia and bronchiectasis, COPD exacerbations occurring within 6 weeks prior to index date, or with a myocardial infarction within 3 months prior to index date. Continuous users were subjects who received their most recent ICS prescription within 3 months before the start of an interval. ICS withdrawals were those who discontinued ICS for more than 3 months. We evaluated the risk of moderate and/or severe exacerbations and all-cause mortality among subjects with various blood eosinophil thresholds who withdrew from ICS compared to continuous ICS users with elevated blood eosinophil levels using Cox regression analysis adjusted for potential confounders. We identified 48,157 subjects diagnosed with COPD between 1 January 2005 to 31 January 2014. Withdrawal of ICS was not associated with an increased risk of moderate-to-severe exacerbations among subjects with absolute blood eosinophil counts ≥0.34 × 109 cells/L [adjusted hazard ratio (adj. HR) 0.72; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.63-0.81] or relative counts ≥ 4.0% (adj. HR 0.72; 95% CI: 0.66-0.78). Similarly, withdrawal of ICS was not associated with an increased risk of severe exacerbations among subjects with absolute blood eosinophil ≥0.34 × 109 cells/L (adj. HR 0.82; 95% CI: 0.61-1.10) or relative blood eosinophil counts ≥4.0% (adj. HR 0.80; 95% CI: 0.61-1.04). No increased risk of all-cause mortality was observed among subjects who withdrew from ICS irrespective of elevated absolute or relative blood eosinophil counts. In a real-world primary care population, we did not observe an increased risk of moderate and/or severe COPD exacerbations or all-cause mortality among subjects with eosinophilia who withdrew their use of ICS.
Keywords: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; eosinophils; exacerbations; inhaled corticosteroids; mortality; withdrawal.
Similar articles
-
Absolute Blood Eosinophil Counts to Guide Inhaled Corticosteroids Therapy Among Patients with COPD: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.Curr Drug Targets. 2019;20(16):1670-1679. doi: 10.2174/1389450120666190808141625. Curr Drug Targets. 2019. PMID: 31393244
-
C-reactive protein as a biomarker of response to inhaled corticosteroids among patients with COPD.Pulm Pharmacol Ther. 2020 Feb;60:101870. doi: 10.1016/j.pupt.2019.101870. Epub 2019 Nov 27. Pulm Pharmacol Ther. 2020. PMID: 31785343
-
Blood eosinophil count and exacerbations in severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease after withdrawal of inhaled corticosteroids: a post-hoc analysis of the WISDOM trial.Lancet Respir Med. 2016 May;4(5):390-8. doi: 10.1016/S2213-2600(16)00100-4. Epub 2016 Apr 7. Lancet Respir Med. 2016. PMID: 27066739 Clinical Trial.
-
A Framework For Step Down Or Therapeutic Re-Organization For Withdrawal Of Inhaled Corticosteroids In Selected Patients With COPD: A Proposal For COPD Management.Int J Chron Obstruct Pulmon Dis. 2019 Sep 23;14:2185-2193. doi: 10.2147/COPD.S216059. eCollection 2019. Int J Chron Obstruct Pulmon Dis. 2019. PMID: 31576115 Free PMC article. Review.
-
The impact of inhaled corticosteroid and long-acting beta-agonist combination therapy on outcomes in COPD.Pulm Pharmacol Ther. 2008;21(3):540-50. doi: 10.1016/j.pupt.2007.12.004. Epub 2008 Jan 6. Pulm Pharmacol Ther. 2008. PMID: 18280761 Review.
Cited by
-
Initial inhaler choice in COPD: real-world evidence.Breathe (Sheff). 2019 Dec;15(4):350-352. doi: 10.1183/20734735.0256-2019. Breathe (Sheff). 2019. PMID: 31803273 Free PMC article.
-
From Biomarkers to Novel Therapeutic Approaches in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.Biomedicines. 2021 Nov 8;9(11):1638. doi: 10.3390/biomedicines9111638. Biomedicines. 2021. PMID: 34829866 Free PMC article. Review.
-
COPD - do the right thing.BMC Fam Pract. 2021 Dec 11;22(1):244. doi: 10.1186/s12875-021-01583-w. BMC Fam Pract. 2021. PMID: 34895164 Free PMC article. Review.
-
Blood eosinophil count, a marker of inhaled corticosteroid effectiveness in preventing COPD exacerbations in post-hoc RCT and observational studies: systematic review and meta-analysis.Respir Res. 2020 Jan 3;21(1):3. doi: 10.1186/s12931-019-1268-7. Respir Res. 2020. PMID: 31900184 Free PMC article.
-
A descriptive cohort study of withdrawal from inhaled corticosteroids in COPD patients.NPJ Prim Care Respir Med. 2022 Jul 20;32(1):25. doi: 10.1038/s41533-022-00288-6. NPJ Prim Care Respir Med. 2022. PMID: 35859081 Free PMC article.
Publication types
MeSH terms
Substances
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources
Other Literature Sources
Medical