Treatment of severe paediatric asthma with the use of biological factors

Introduction: Children with asthma in most cases are able to control their symptoms, although a small percentage of them suffer from severe type of the disease, which cannot be responsive in the maintain medication. The recent years, novel therapies have been developed in order to treat severe asthma, with pharmaceutical substances Omalizumab and Mepolizumab to be the only biologic agents accepted for children aged over 6 years old.

Aim: The purpose of the literature review is to inform the importance and action of immunotherapy for the treatment of severe allergic asthma in pediatric patients.

Material and Methods: During the research in the databases PubMed and Google Scholar a total of 3664 articles were retrieved. The review included 11 primary studies that met the inclusion criteria set. The research questions asked were the safety and tolerable administration of Omalizumab and Mepolizumab and the degree to which symptoms and paroxysmal episodes were controlled. A format was used to index the research data concerning the main features of the study, according to the PRISMA method / proposal (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyzes).

Results: All studies have shown positive results from treatment with both monoclonal antibodies, such as improved asthma control, reduction of paroxysmal episodes, decreased Emergency Department visits and hospital admissions, and reduction of inhaled corticosteroid doses too. Furthermore, both two biologics were well tolerated by the pediatric population and the side effects observed were basically mild. Conclusions: Thanks to these biological agents, many children have been able to control their asthma symptoms and have an improved quality of life. However, other biologics that are already being administered to adults are expected to be approved, while bronchial thermoplasty is a controversial but promising treatment for severe asthma that may benefit certain groups of children