Long-term treatment with disodium cromoglycate does not alter bronchial hyperreactivity in patients with perennial bronchial asthma.

The purpose of this study was to examine whether a 3-month therapy with disodium cromoglycate (DSCG) is able to lower bronchial hyperreactivity in patients with perennial bronchial asthma and hyperreactive airways. Therefore, 24 patients with this condition (11 women, 13 men; age range from 16 to 41 years) were randomly allocated to either active treatment (20 mg DSCG four times daily) or to placebo in a prospectively designed, double-blind study. Bronchial hyperreactivity was assessed by acetylcholine-induced bronchoconstriction before and after 6 and 12 weeks of either DSCG or placebo treatment, respectively. As test values, the variations in FEV1 and oscillatory resistance (Ros) before and after inhaled acetylcholine was used. Despite the fact that DSCG significantly attenuated acetylcholine-induced acute bronchoconstriction in all patients studied, it did not exhibit a significant reduction in bronchial hyperreactivity in this patient population.