Efficacy of long-term macrolide antibiotic therapy in patients with diffuse panbronchiolitis: comparison between HLA-B54-positive and -negative cases

Abstract

This study compared the clinical characteristics and the effects of long-term macrolide antibiotic therapy of HLA-B54-positive and -negative cases in patients with diffuse panbronchiolitis (DPB). Thirty-two Japanese patients were enrolled who had the clinical criteria for DPB. All patients received long-term macrolide therapy, and therapeutic results were compared according to the presence or the absence of HLA-B54 antigen. Clinical, laboratory, radiological and bacterial features were strikingly similar in both groups before macrolide therapy. Long-term treatment with macrolides improved clinical symptoms, PaO 2, and forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV 1) equally in both groups. This study indicates that genetic susceptibility may not explain the pathogenesis of DPB, and that low-dose macrolide therapy can achieve clinical improvement irrespective of genetic predisposition in DPB.