[Efficacy of disodium cromolyn in adult chronic asthma]

Disodium cromolyn is effective in preventing asthma, but its steroid sparing effect remains controversial. In this prospective cross-over study, we used two different brands of disodium cromolyn, Intal and Ticromil, each for 4 weeks on 7 adult patients with chronic asthma. The dosage was 20 mg qid via a special inhaler. The whole course of the study was 12 weeks for each patient, including 2 run-in weeks and 2 wash-out weeks. Patients were followed up by the same physician at outpatient clinics every 2 weeks to measure FEV1, FVC, peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR), and reversibility after bronchodilator. The physician also assessed the severity of the patients' symptoms via a special score system. Patients recorded symptom severity and frequency of medications at home on daily diary cards. Patients also measured PEFR twice a day. At the end of the treatment, FEV1 was improved more in Intal group; daily prednisolone dosage was markedly reduced in Ticromil group; PEFR was improved in both group; but neither symptom severity nor airway reversibility was significantly changed. When two groups were calculated as a whole, PEFR increased significantly from 294 +/- 20 l/min to 342 +/- 19 l/min (p = 0.0225). The daily prednisolone dosage reduced from 5.87 +/- 0.91 mg to 3.91 +/- 0.60 mg in the 3rd week and to 4.05 +/- 0.63 mg in the 4th week. The differences between these 2 dosages and the baseline dosage were statistically significant (both p < 0.05). Side effects were minimal in all patients. We concluded that after the use of disodium cromolyn for 4 weeks, PEFR was markedly improved and daily prednisolone dosage was also significantly reduced.