The VESTIGE study is the first study to show a reduction in lung mucus buildup in asthma patients treated with dupilumab/Dupixent.
RT’s Three Key Takeaways:
- Dupilumab Reduces Mucus Buildup: The VESTIGE trial found that dupilumab significantly decreased mucus obstruction in the lungs of adults and adolescents with moderate-to-severe asthma within just four weeks of treatment.
- Improved Breathing and Lung Function: By reducing mucus plugs and type 2 airway inflammation, dupilumab improved patients’ breathing, lung capacity, and overall respiratory health.
- New Hope for Severe Asthma Management: The findings highlight dupilumab as a promising treatment option for patients whose asthma remains uncontrolled by standard therapies, offering better lung function and quality of life.
Mucus buildup can block the airways in patients with asthma, but the typical treatment fails to reduce the mucus in patients’ lungs. A new research study shows that dupilumab reduces mucus buildup and improves breathing in adults and adolescents with moderate-to-severe asthma as soon as four weeks after treatment.
The study, “Effect of dupilumab on mucus burden in patients with moderate-to-severe asthma: the VESTIGE trial” was published online in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
“In moderate-to-severe asthma, a buildup of mucus in the lungs can obstruct breathing airways to the point where affected patients suffer limited breathing, severe asthma attacks, and even death,” said Celeste Porsbjerg, MD, PhD, one of the lead study authors and professor of severe asthma in the Department of Respiratory Medicine, Bispebjerg Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark.
While everyone has mucus, most of us go through life unbothered by it except when we have a cold or flu, for example. The extent of mucus is far different for patients with asthma, said De De Gardner, DrPh, chief research officer, Allergy & Asthma Network (AAN).
“For patients who experience increased mucus production with their asthma flares or attacks, it leads to increased stress/distress and anxiety. Sometimes the stuck mucus can cause gagging because it gets stuck and they can’t expel it or cough it out.”
Mucus plugs in severe asthma result from pronounced type 2 airway inflammation, and have been found to persist for a long time in the airways.
Dr. Porsbjerg and colleagues found that with the reduction in mucus plugs, dupilumab treatment also improved patients’ breathing and lung function.
The effect of dupilumab on T2 inflammation was also confirmed by a significant reduction in exhaled nitric oxide, a marker of type 2 inflammation According to AAN, type 2 inflammation is a result of triggers such as allergens that cause the immune system to overreact.
This study gives us a new understanding of the role of mucus buildup in asthma that can be targeted with treatment. Dupilumab gives clinicians another option for treatment in severe cases. For patients, the benefits mean better lung function and an improved quality of life.
