The preventive effect of nedocromil or furosemide alone or in combination on exercise-induced asthma in children.

BACKGROUND

Recent evidence suggests that inhaled nedocromil and furosemide are effective in preventing asthma by ultrasonically nebulized distilled water, allergen, and exercise. There are, however, no studies that compare the effects of these two drugs. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of inhaled furosemide (30 mg), nedocromil (4 mg), the combination of these two drugs, and placebo aerosol in preventing exercise-induced asthma.

METHODS

Twenty-four children with exercise-induced asthma, aged 6 to 16 years, performed a treadmill test before and 20 minutes after a single dose of drug(s) in a double-blind trial. Lung function measurements were taken before drug administration, before the exercise test (20 minutes after drug administration), and then 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 15, 20, and 30 minutes after the exercise test.

RESULTS

Both active drugs performed significantly better than placebo. In fact, the exercise challenge resulted in a mean maximum fall in forced expiratory volume in 1 second of 28.46% +/- 13.84% after administration of placebo, but of only 15.42% +/- 8.35% after administration of nedocromil (p < 0.001) and of 11.37% +/- 9.14% after administration of furosemide (p < 0.001). When the two drugs were given together, there was a statistically significant additive effect because the mean maximum fall in forced expiratory volume in 1 second was 5.75% +/- 3.57% (nedocromil vs nedocromil + fluorsemide: p < 0.001; furosemide vs nedocromil + furosemide: p < 0.01).

CONCLUSION

This study suggests that nedocromil and furosemide provide a comparable effect in preventing exercise-induced asthma in children. The combined administration of the two drugs significantly increases the protective effects, suggesting a potential therapeutic use.