[The 1999 domestic state of development of anti-asthma]

According to the "Guideline for Diagnosis and Treatment of Asthma" established by the Japanese Society of Allergy in 1998, inhaled adrenergic beta 2 agonists and inhaled corticosteroids are recommended for treatment of asthma. Thereafter, the development of new drugs for the treatment of asthma has begun changing. The concepts upon which the development of investigational drugs for asthma are based include improvements of drug delivery systems (ease of use, long-acting preparations, fewer side-effects), device design and appropriate auxiliary instrumentation. Moreover, chronic asthma has come to be recognized as an inflammatory disease of airway mucosa. At present, various antiallergic compounds such as tachykinin, leucotrien, PAF antagonists and others are under investigation thanks to the identification of new chemical mediators of airway inflammation and studies have progressed to the synthesis and manufacturing of new pharmaceuticals with antagonistic action. Thus, this review classified and introduced various new investigational anti-asthma and further describes the structure-activity relationships of beta 2 agonists and inhaled corticosteroids.