Do We Really Need to Keep Redesigning beta(2)-agonists for the Management of Asthma?

作者：Van Ly David; Oliver Brian G G^*

来源：Current Drug Delivery, 2015, 12(1): 9-15.

DOI：10.2174/1567201811666140606112918

• beta(2)-agonists
• desensitization
• exacerbations
• leukotrienes
• prostaglandins
• rhinovirus

There is an enormous drive to refine therapeutic designs and delivery systems, but in this review we ask if this is always the right direction? We choose to play devil's advocate, and argue that refining drug design is not always needed, and what is actually needed is a greater understanding of the biology of the disease. Here we focus on asthma and the beta(2)-agonist group of bronchodilators as an example of how a class of therapeutic has been developed and continues to be developmentally refined. In this review, we define viral-induced exacerbations as the greatest cause of lung attacks and the most crucial time beta(2)-agonist therapy is needed. We explore the reasons why beta(2)-agonist therapy fails in patients with rhinovirus-induced exacerbations, and explain why further "engineered" beta(2)-agonist therapies are likely to continue to fail in this subset of asthmatic population. We justify our perspective by returning to the biology that underlies the cause of disease and highlight the need for "more research" into alternative therapies for this population of asthmatic patients.

• 出版日期2015
• 单位河北医科大学