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Objective and Background: Few studies have assessed the effectiveness of inhaled corticosteroid therapy exclusively in Asian patients with asthma. The present analysis compared the efficacy of early intervention with inhaled budesonide in Caucasian and Asian patients over the first 3 years of the inhaled Steroid Treatment As Regular Therapy in early asthma study., Methods: Patients aged 5-66 years with mild persistent asthma of

Study Objectives: Asthmatic patients lose lung function faster than normal subjects. The effectiveness of early intervention with inhaled corticosteroids on this decline in lung function is not established in recent-onset disease., Design: The Inhaled Steroid Treatment as Regular Therapy in Early Asthma study was a randomized, double-blind study in 7,165 patients (5 to 66 years old), with persistent asthma for < 2 years to determine whether early intervention with low-dose inhaled budesonide prevents severe asthma-related events and the decline in lung function. Patients received budesonide (200 mug qd for children < 11 years old and 400 mug qd for others) or placebo for 3 years in addition to usual asthma medications., Results: Treatment with budesonide significantly improved prebronchodilator and postbronchodilator FEV(1) percentage of predicted and reduced the mean declines from baseline for postbronchodilator FEV(1) at 1 year and 3 years: - 0.62% and - 1.79% for budesonide and - 2.11% and - 2.68% for placebo, respectively (p < 0.001). The decline was more marked for male patients, active smokers, and patients > 18 years old, and the smallest treatment effects were in adolescents., Conclusions: Long-term, once-daily treatment with low-dose budesonide improved both prebronchodilator and postbronchodilator FEV(1) in patients with recent-onset, persistent asthma, and reduced the loss of lung function over time.

Background: Although inhaled glucocorticosteroids are recommended for persistent asthma, their long-term effect on recent onset, mild, persistent asthma has yet to be established., Methods: We did a randomised, double-blind clinical trial in 7241 patients in 32 countries to assess the effects of budesonide in patients who had had mild persistent asthma for less than 2 years and who had not had previous regular treatment with glucocorticosteroids. Patients aged 5-66 years received either budesonide or placebo once daily for 3 years in addition to their usual asthma medications. The daily budesonide dose was 400 microg, or 200 microg for children younger than 11 years. The primary outcome was time to first severe asthma-related event, and analysis was by intention to treat., Findings: 198 of 3568 patients on placebo and 117 of 3597 on budesonide had at least one severe asthma exacerbation; hazard ratio 0.56 (95% CI 0.45-0.71, p<0.0001). Patients on budesonide had fewer courses of systemic corticosteroids and more symptom-free days than did those on placebo. Compared with placebo, budesonide increased postbronchodilator forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) from baseline by 1.48% (p<0.0001) after 1 year and by 0.88% (p=0.0005) after 3 years (expressed as percent of the predicted value). The corresponding increase in prebronchodilator FEV1 was 2.24% after 1 year and 1.71% after 3 years (p<0.0001 at both timepoints). The effect of treatment on all outcome variables was independent of the baseline lung function (prebronchodilator or postbronchodilator) or baseline medication. In children younger than 11 years, 3-year growth was reduced in the budesonide group by 1.34 cm. The reduction was greatest in the first year of treatment (0.58 cm) than years 2 and 3 (0.43 cm and 0.33 cm, respectively)., Interpretation: Long-term, once-daily treatment with low-dose budesonide decreases the risk of severe exacerbations and improves asthma control in patients with mild persistent asthma of recent onset.