Inhaled
corticosteroid (ICS)-containing
therapies are the mainstay of pharmacological management of
asthma. They can be administered alone or in combination with a long-acting
bronchodilator, depending on
asthma severity, and may also be supplemented with short-acting
bronchodilators for as-needed rescue medication. Adherence to
asthma therapies is generally poor and characterized by underuse of ICS
therapies and over-reliance on short-acting
bronchodilators, which leads to poor clinical outcomes. This article reviews efficacy versus systemic activity profiles for various dosing regimens of
budesonide (BUD) and
fluticasone propionate (FP). We performed a structured literature review of BUD and FP regular daily dosing, and BUD/
formoterol (FOR) as-needed dosing, to explore the relationship between various dosing patterns of ICS regimens and the risk-benefit profile in terms of the extent of bronchoprotection and
cortisol suppression. In addition, we explored how adherence could potentially affect the risk-benefit profile, in patients with mild, moderate, and moderate-to-severe
asthma. With a specific focus on BUD or FP-containing treatments, we found that regular daily ICS and ICS/long-acting β2-agonist (LABA) dosing had a greater degree of bronchoprotection than as-needed BUD/FOR dosing or BUD/FOR maintenance and reliever
therapy (MART) dosing, and still maintained low systemic activity. We also found that the benefits of regular daily ICS dosing regimens were diminished when adherence was low (50%); the shorter duration of bronchoprotection observed was similar to that seen with typical as-needed BUD/FOR usage. These findings have implications for aiding clinicians with selecting the most suitable treatment option for
asthma management, and subsequent implications for the advice clinicians give their patients.