Fluticasone Furoate: A Once Daily Preparation in Patients with Persistent Asthma

Abstract

Asthma affects approximately 240 million people worldwide. It is characterised by an allergic pattern of smooth muscle constriction and airway inflammation, and if chronic, the inflammation can lead to structural changes and fixed airflow obstruction. Bronchodilators relieve the bronchoconstriction, while inhaled corticosteroids reduce the airway inflammation. This paper reviews fluticasone furoate (FF), a novel inhaled corticosteroid with 24-hour duration of action. It is a synthetic fluorinated corticosteroid with agonist activity at the glucocorticoid receptor (GRE). It is reported to have a fast association and slow dissociation from the GRE compared to other ICSs. FF has been found to have a greater lung retention time than all other ICS preparations which may contribute to the extended duration of anti-inflammatory action. FF has extensive first pass hepatic metabolism resulting in a low gastrointestinal bioavailability which is consistent with the findings for other ICS preparations. FF, however, will pass from the lung into the systemic circulation and therefore an adverse profile similar to all ICS is likely, but long term data are needed.FF has demonstrated treatment efficacy for asthma between 100μg and 200μg alone, but in combination with the long-acting beta agonist, vilanterol (FF/VIL 200μg/50μg OD) there were further improvements in lung function relative to monotherapy. There is an increased risk of pneumonia identified in patients with airways disease in associated with ICS preparations and surveillance will be required to determine if this also applies to FF. Once daily therapy, such as FF, may improve compliance and could hopefully be translated into further improvements in asthma-related outcomes.