Trial enrolled children from disadvantaged urban neighborhoods who have exacerbation-prone eosinophilic asthma <\/em><\/p>\n<\/h3>\n <\/b><\/p>\n <\/b><\/p>\n \n\tMONDAY, Aug. 15, 2022 (HealthDay News) — Asthma exacerbations are reduced for children and adolescents with exacerbation-prone eosinophilic asthma who are living in socioeconomically disadvantaged urban neighborhoods and receive mepolizumab therapy, according to a study published in the Aug. 13 issue of The Lancet<\/em>.\n<\/p>\n \n\tDaniel J. Jackson, M.D., from the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health in Madison, and colleagues conducted a randomized trial at nine urban medical centers in the United States involving children and adolescents aged 6 to 17 years who lived in socioeconomically disadvantaged neighborhoods and had exacerbation-prone asthma and blood eosinophils of at least 150 cells\/\u00c2\u00b5L. A total of 290 participants were randomly assigned to either mepolizumab or placebo injections once every four weeks plus guideline-based care for 52 weeks (146 and 144 patients, respectively).\n<\/p>\n \n\tThe researchers found that within the 52-week study period, the mean number of asthma exacerbations was 0.96 and 1.30 with mepolizumab and placebo, respectively (rate ratio, 0.73). Treatment-emergent adverse events occurred in 29 and 11 percent of participants in the mepolizumab and placebo groups, respectively. There were no deaths attributed to mepolizumab.\n<\/p>\n \n\t“In urban children and adolescents with exacerbation-prone eosinophilic asthma, adjunctive therapy with mepolizumab reduced asthma exacerbations, but did not affect other asthma outcomes,” the authors write.\n<\/p>\n \n\tSeveral authors disclosed financial ties to pharmaceutical companies, including GlaxoSmithKline, which manufactures mepolizumab and partially funded the study.\n<\/p>\n \n\tAbstract\/Full Text (subscription or payment may be required)<\/a>\n<\/p>\n \n\tEditorial (subscription or payment may be required)<\/a>\n<\/p>\n <\/i><\/p>\n