18 Jul Cystic Fibrosis: Antioxidant-Enriched MVI May Decrease Respiratory Illnesses
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Dr. Sagel
Scott D Sagel MD PhD
Professor of Pediatrics
University of Colorado School of Medicine
Aurora, Colorado
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Inflammation is an important feature of cystic fibrosis (CF) lung disease and contributes to lung damage and lung function decline in CF. We need safe and effective anti-inflammatory treatments in CF. Anti-oxidant therapy has been an area of promise, but with mixed results in CF.
This clinical trial, conducted at 15 CF centers affiliated with the cystic fibrosis Foundation Therapeutics Development Network, enrolled 73 patients who were 10 years and older (average age 22 years), with pancreatic insufficiency, which causes malabsorption of antioxidants. Subjects were randomized to either a multivitamin containing multiple antioxidants including carotenoids such as beta(β)-carotene, tocopherols (vitamin E), coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10), and selenium or to a control multivitamin without antioxidant enrichment. The antioxidants used in the study were delivered in a capsule specifically designed for individuals with difficulties absorbing fats and proteins, including those with cystic fibrosis.
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings?
Response: Antioxidant supplementation was safe and well-tolerated. Supplemental antioxidants increased antioxidant concentrations in the bloodstream in treated subjects and temporarily reduced inflammation in the blood at four weeks but not 16 weeks. Airway inflammation, as measured in sputum, did not change significantly with antioxidant treatment. Importantly, antioxidant treatment appeared to both prolong the time to the first respiratory illness requiring antibiotics and reduce the frequency of respiratory illnesses they experienced.
MedicalResearch.com: What should readers take away from your report?
Response: Taking a specially formulated antioxidant-enriched multivitamin, containing multiple dietary antioxidants, may decrease respiratory illnesses in people with cystic fibrosis. While more research needs to be done to find a treatment that delivers a sustained anti-inflammatory effect, we believe the prolonged time patients had before their first respiratory illness is clinically meaningful. Also, the cost of a dietary antioxidant-enriched multivitamin is relatively modest compared to other currently available therapies that have been proven to reduce pulmonary exacerbations in cystic fibrosis.
MedicalResearch.com: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this study?
Response: We still don’t know the optimal dosing of these various dietary antioxidants. We also don’t know the added benefit of antioxidant supplementation in the era of CFTR modulator therapy, emerging treatments that get at the basic protein defect in cystic fibrosis.
MedicalResearch.com: Is there anything else you would like to add?
Response: This clinical trial, funded by a grant from the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, was an investigator-initiated study led by Scott D. Sagel, MD, PhD, a Professor of Pediatrics at Children’s Hospital Colorado and Director of the University of Colorado Cystic Fibrosis Center. It was not an industry initiated or funded trial. Callion Pharma manufactured the antioxidant-enriched and control multivitamins and provided them at no charge for this study.
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Citation:
Effects of an Antioxidant-enriched Multivitamin in Cystic Fibrosis: Randomized, Controlled, Multicenter Trial
Scott D Sagel , Umer Khan , Raksha Jain , Gavin Graff , Cori L Daines , Jordan M Dunitz , Drucy Borowitz , David M Orenstein , Ibrahim Abdulhamid , Julie Noe , John P Clancy , et al
https://doi.org/10.1164/rccm.201801-0105OC PubMed: 29688760
American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine
Published Online: April 24, 2018
Note: Content is Not intended as medical advice. Please consult your health care provider regarding your specific medical condition and questions.
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Last Updated on July 18, 2018 by Marie Benz MD FAAD