New developments concerning leukotriene antagonists: a review.

The numbers and subtypes of leukotriene (LT) receptors have only recently been investigated and more work is needed to evaluate the distribution of receptors on tissues and cells in both normal and pathological states. Classification of the heterogeneity of LT receptors may assist in the discovery of new antiallergy and antiinflammatory drugs much in the same way as the study of different adrenergic receptors has benefited cardiovascular drug discovery. The clinical evaluation of the currently available LT antagonists is awaited with interest; however, their therapeutic role in the treatment of asthma, a primary goal for the majority of these agents, will require painstaking clinical appraisal. They seem unlikely to supplant the currently used bronchodilators but may provide a valuable prophylactic adjunct that may suppress some of the inflammatory events that occur in obstructive lung disease. Whether the LT antagonists modify the hyperreactive state that prevails in asthma is also the subject of much speculation.