Reduction of exacerbations by the PDE4 inhibitor roflumilast--the importance of defining different subsets of patients with COPD.

ABSTRACT:

Background

As chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a heterogeneous disease it is unlikely that all patients will benefit equally from a given therapy. Roflumilast, an oral, once-daily phosphodiesterase 4 inhibitor, has been shown to improve lung function in moderate and severe COPD but its effect on exacerbations in unselected populations was inconclusive. This led to the question of whether a responsive subset existed that could be investigated further.

Methods

The datasets of two previous replicate, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group studies (oral roflumilast 500 μg or placebo once daily for 52 weeks) that were inconclusive regarding exacerbations were combined in a post-hoc, pooled analysis to determine whether roflumilast reduced exac

SUBMITTER: Rennard SI 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3040135 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature