Corticosteroid Resistance in Smokers: A Substudy Analysis of the CORTICO-COP Randomised Controlled Trial

Pradeesh Sivapalan, Andras Bikov, Charlotte Suppli Ulrik, Therese Sophie Lapperre, Alexander Mathioudakis, Mats Christian Højberg Lassen, Kristoffer Grundtvig Skaarup, Tor Biering-sørensen, Jørgen Vestbo, Jens Ulrik Stæhr Jensen

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The CORTICO-COP trial showed that eosinophil-guided corticosteroid-sparing treatment for acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease was non-inferior to standard of care and decreased the accumulated dose of systemic corticosteroids that patients were exposed to by approximately 60%. Smoking status has been shown to affect corticosteroid responsiveness. This post hoc analysis investigated whether eosinophil-guided treatment is non-inferior to conventional treatment in current smokers. The main analysis of current smokers showed no significant differ-ence in the primary endpoint, days alive, and out of hospital within 14 days between the control group (mean, 9.8 days; 95% confidence interval (CI), 8.7–10.8) and the eosinophil-guided group (mean, 8.7 days; 95% CI, 7.5–9.9; p = 0.34). Secondary analyses of the number of exacerbations or deaths, the number of intensive care unit admissions or deaths, lung function improvement, and change in health-related quality of life also showed no significant differences between the two groups. The results of a sensitivity analysis of ex-smokers are consistent with the main analysis. Our results suggest that eosinophil-guided treatment is non-inferior to standard of care in current smok-ers and ex-smokers. Because data on the impact of smoking status on eosinophil-guided treatments are sparse, more randomised trials are needed to confirm our results.
Original languageEnglish
Article number2734
Pages (from-to)1-11
Number of pages11
JournalJournal of Clinical Medicine
Volume10
Issue number12
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 21 Jun 2021

Keywords

  • chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
  • corticosteroid resistance
  • smoking
  • airway inflammation
  • blood eosinophils

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