Meta-analysis of competitive antagonists in asthma treatment

This meta-analysis was developed to explore the efficacy of using antagonists to the chemokine receptor of T helper type 2 (Th2) cells (CRTH2) in the treatment of asthma, so as to provide theoretical foundation and assistance for treatment of asthma.

The Boolean logic search method (Boolean method) was adopted to search the publications in PubMed, Medline, and HowNet with "antagonist", "asthma", "competitive antagonist", and "efficiency" as the search terms. The publications taking placebo as control to treat the asthma were searched. The Review Manager software was applied for meta-analysis.

A total of 13 publications were included in this study, and most of them were low-risk bias (medium-high quality). The results of Meta-analysis showed that the treatment methods of the two groups of patients showed no statistically heterogeneous effects on the one-second forced expiratory volume (FEV1) in the maximum exhalation after the maximum deep inhalation (Chi2 =4.70, I2=0%, and P=0.79). The FEV1 of the control group was much lower than that of the experimental group (Z=3.61, P=0.0003). There was no great difference in the incidence of adverse events between the two groups (Z=0.46, P=0.64). No statistical heterogeneity (Chi2 =3.72, I2=0%, P=0.45) and difference (Z=1.57, P=0.12) were found in asthma exacerbation between the two groups. The asthma control questionnaire (ACQ) score of the control group was much lower than that of the experimental group (Z=3.20, P=0.001).

Competitive antagonists of CRTH2 could effectively improve FEV1 and lower ACQ scores in patients with asthma, and were therefore effective in treating asthma.