Regular treatment with inhaled long-acting beta2-agonists leads to subsensitivity to their bronchoprotective effects, although the effect of dosing frequency on this subsensitivity is not known. The aim of this study was to assess whether a once-daily dosing regimen with formoterol might be associated with a lesser degree of subsensitivity. In a randomized placebo-controlled double-blind, doubl...

BACKGROUND The budesonide/formoterol combination is successfully used for fast relief of asthma symptoms in addition to its use as maintenance therapy. The temporarily increased corticosteroid dose during increasing inhaler use for symptom relief is likely to suppress any temporary increase in airway inflammation and may mitigate or prevent asthma exacerbations. The relative contribution of the...

BACKGROUND It remains unclear whether severe exacerbation and pneumonia of COPD differs between patients treated with budesonide/formoterol and those treated with fluticasone/salmeterol. Therefore, we conducted a comparative study of those who used budesonide/formoterol and those treated with fluticasone/salmeterol for COPD. METHODS Subjects in this population-based cohort study comprised pat...

BACKGROUND Aclidinium/formoterol is a twice-daily (BID) fixed-dose combination (FDC) in development for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The efficacy and safety of aclidinium/formoterol versus monotherapy and placebo in patients with COPD was assessed. METHODS In this 24-week double-blind, parallel-group, active- and placebo-controlled, multicentre Phase III study, patients (≥40 ...

BACKGROUND Formoterol, a new beta 2 agonist, is long and fast acting when given as an aerosol. The aim was to determine the onset and duration of bronchodilatation with formoterol as a dry powder compared with salbutamol dry powder and with placebo. METHODS Fifteen patients with stable asthma with a reversibility of 15% or more participated in a double blind, within patient study. On five dif...

The aim of this study was to investigate formoterol, an inhaled long-acting beta2-agonist, in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Six-hundred and ninety-two COPD patients, mean baseline forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) 54%, FEV1/forced vital capacity 75% of predicted, reversibility 6.4% pred, were treated with formoterol (4.5, 9 or 18 microg b.i.d.) or place...

Systemic administration of beta(2)-adrenoceptor agonists (beta(2)-agonists) can improve skeletal muscle regeneration after injury. However, therapeutic application of beta(2)-agonists for muscle injury has been limited by detrimental cardiovascular side effects. Intramuscular administration may obviate some of these side effects. To test this hypothesis, the right extensor digitorum longus (EDL...

The efficacy and safety of twice-daily aclidinium bromide/formoterol fumarate was compared with that of salmeterol/fluticasone propionate in patients with stable, moderate-to-severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).AFFIRM COPD (Aclidinium and Formoterol Findings in Respiratory Medicine COPD) was a 24-week, double-blind, double-dummy, active-controlled study. Patients were randomised...

Indacaterol is a novel once daily inhaled beta(2) adrenoceptor agonist in clinical development. This study compared the properties of indacaterol with salmeterol, formoterol, and albuterol on small airways in precision-cut lung slices from human and rat contracted with carbachol and serotonin, respectively. In human lung slices, the rank order of potency was formoterol >/= salmeterol > indacate...

BACKGROUND Fluticasone propionate and formoterol fumarate have been combined in a single inhaler (fluticasone/formoterol; flutiform(®)) for the maintenance treatment of asthma. This pooled analysis assessed the efficacy of fluticasone/formoterol versus fluticasone in patients who previously received inhaled corticosteroids. METHODS Data were pooled from five randomised studies in patients wit...