Safety and clinical efficacy of zileuton in patients with chronic asthma

Zileuton, a leukotriene pathway inhibitor used to treat asthma, improves lung function, relieves symptoms, and is well tolerated. The purpose of this 12-month, parallel-group, open-label study was to assess the efficacy of zileuton and evaluate liver function in patients treated with this drug (approximately 2% of patients treated with zileuton in controlled trials had reversible liver enzyme elevations). A total of 2,947 patients at 233 centers in the United States were randomly assigned in a 5:1 ratio to treatment with zileuton plus usual asthma care or usual asthma care alone. Efficacy variables included asthma exacerbations; need for alternative treatment, steroid rescue, emergency care, and hospitalizations; forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1); and asthma symptom scores. The safety evaluation included measurement of alanine aminotransferase levels. Patients treated with zileuton had significantly fewer corticosteroid rescues (P < 0.001), required less emergency care (P < 0.05), had fewer hospitalizations, and had greater increases in FEV1 (P = 0.048). They also had significantly greater improvements in asthma symptoms. Increases in alanine aminotransferase levels to three times or more the upper limit of normal occurred in 4.6% of patients treated with zileuton and 1.1% of those receiving usual care (P < 0.001); most increases occurred during the first 2 to 3 months. Alanine aminotransferase levels decreased to less than two times the upper limit of normal or to baseline levels during zileuton treatment or after drug cessation. Jaundice or chronic liver disease did not develop in any patient. Adding zileuton to the therapeutic regimens of patients with asthma is likely to improve asthma control and lower utilization of healthcare resources.