Elsevier

Respiratory Medicine

Volume 95, Issue 10, October 2001, Pages 817-821
Respiratory Medicine

Regular Article
Rapid onset of bronchodilation in COPD: a placebo-controlled study comparing formoterol (Foradil®AerolizerTM) with salbutamol (VentodiskTM)

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Abstract

Formoterol fumarate is a β2-agonist bronchodilator that combines a fast onset of action with a long duration of action. Its fast onset of action is well documented in asthma but has not been directly compared with that of salbutamol in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study was conducted to assess the bronchodilatory effects over the first 3 h after inhalation of single doses of formoterol 24 μ g delivered via the AerolizerTMdry powder inhaler device (double-blind), or salbutamol 400μ g delivered via Diskhaler®dry powder inhaler (single-blind) in patients with COPD. A total of 24 patients with COPD were randomized [mean age 61·6±7·8 years, mean forced expiratory volume in 1 sec (FEV1) 1·38±0·32 l and 45·8±9·6% of predicted]. Inhalation of formoterol or salbutamol resulted in similar increases in FEV1from 0 to 3 h post-dose. Both drugs produced similar bronchodilation by 5 min, which became almost maximal by 30 min. The primary efficacy variable, the area under the curve (AUC) of the FEV1increase above predose baseline from 0 to 30 min (AUC0−30 min), demonstrated significant effects for formoterol (mean 5·89±4·67 l min−1), and salbutamol (mean 6·06±4·34 l min−1), which were not statistically different from each other but statistically significantly higher (P<0·0001) than that observed with placebo (−0·32±2·59 l min−1). In addition, both formoterol and salbutamol produced similar and rapid increases in forced vital capacity (FVC). In summary, this study confirms the rapid onset of action of formoterol and indicates that the onset of action of formoterol and salbutamol are similar in patients with COPD.

Keywords

formoterol
salbutamol
β2-agonist
bronchodilator
chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
COPD.

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Correspondence should be addressed to: Dr Daniel Benhamou, Service de Pneumologie, CHRU-Hôpital de Bois-Guillaume, 1, rue de Germont, 76031 Rouen Cedex, France. E-mail: [email protected]