New Drug for Asthma Patients Discovered by Med School Team

Within the year, asthmatics who have long suffered from constricted airways might be able to breathe a little easier.

According to a study published by two researchers at the Medical School, a new drug treatment has successfully reduced asthma symptoms in clinical trials.

Assistant Professor of Medicine Elliot Israel and Francis Professor of Medicine Jeffrey M. Drazen demonstrated that a drug called zileuton was effective in improving lung function after an asthma attack as well as reducing asthma symptoms over a month-long period.

"It appears quite promising," says Drazen, who led the research effort which was conducted at the Beth Israel Hospital and 16 other centers around the country.

The drug is an attractive alternative to beta-agonist, the traditional asthma treatment which is taken as an inhalant. Rather than simply relaxing muscles which have already contracted, zileuton inhibits activity of the molecule which initially causes the muscle to contract.

Drazen says that the research effort began over two decades ago when scientists were studying an unknown compound, now called leukotriene, which caused narrowing of airways.

After seven or eight years, the substance's constricting activity was confirmed. The next step called for chemists, including Emery Professor of Organic Chemistry E. J. Corey, to determine the structure and stereochemistry of the molecule and to devise a method of synthesizing it.

Once the structure was confirmed, research teams at pharmaceutical companies and hospitals began to test drugs which might alter the effects of the leukotriene molecule.

During the '80s, several drugs were shown to inhibit the action of leukotriene. All these drugs, however, produced adverse side effects in humans. It wasn't until this year that a drug was found which reduced biological activity without toxic side effects.

To confirm that the drug was indeed effective, Drazen and Israel tested over 100 patients who suffered from asthma over a four-week period.

Their data, which showed improved asthma symptoms in patients who had received the drug, was published in the December issue of The Annals of Internal Medicine.

Their positive results, Drazen says, were significant in the treatment of asthma. "It's a big step because this is the first drug to come along that's been targeted for asthma and that's been effective," he said.

The pulmonologist added that he expects the FDA to approve the drug within a year. More than 1100 patients have been tested in clinical trials to date. When that number doubles, Drazen said, the drug will likely be approved for general use.

Asthma is a respiratory disease which afflicts five to seven percent of Americans and accounts for approximately 2,500 deaths each year.