Effect of omalizumab treatment on allergic comorbidities in patients with severe allergic asthma – real life experience from Czech Anti-IgE Registry

Abstract

Introduction: Omalizumab is indicated for the treatment of severe allergic bronchial asthma and chronic spontaneous urticaria, although number of studies confirmed the efficacy of this therapy also on other IgE-mediated diseases. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of anti-IgE therapy on comorbid allergic diseases in patients treated with omalizumab for severe allergic asthma. Methods: In the study there were enrolled 310 patients with severe asthma treated with omalizumab between 2006–2015 in specialized centers for severe asthma treatment in the Czech Republic. The effect on clinical symptoms of asthma and other comorbidities - allergic rhinitis, atopic dermatitis, food allergy and chronic urticaria was evaluated after 12 months of treatment with omalizumab. Results: After 12 months of treatment with omalizumab, patients experienced significant improvement in asthma control, reduction of systemic corticosteroids for asthma exacerbations and decreased average daily dose of systemic corticosteroids. The positive effect of treatment with omalizumab was observed in 82.2% of patients with allergic rhinitis, in 85.7% of patients with chronic urticaria, in 82.1% of patients with atopic dermatitis, and in 67.3% of patients with food allergy. Conclusions: Patients with severe asthma treated with omalizumab showed positive effect of anti-IgE therapy not only on the clinical symptoms of asthma, but also on other allergic comorbidities. Most patients with allergic rhinitis, atopic dermatitis, chronic urticaria and food allergy experienced either improvement or complete remission of symptoms of these diseases.