Inhaled corticosteroids and systemic inflammatory response in community-acquired pneumonia: A prospective clinical study

Autores de IIS La Fe

• Antonio Torres Marti

  Autor

• Raquel Martínez Tomás

  Autor

• Paula Ramírez Galleymore

  Autor

• Eva Polverino

  Autor

• Beatriz Montull Veiga

  Autor

• Rosario Menéndez Villanueva

  Autor

Participantes ajenos a IIS La Fe

• Ferrer M
• Sialer S
• Niederman MS
• Agusti A

Grupos

• Infecciones Respiratorias

• Medicina Intensiva

Abstract

Background and objective: The previous use of inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) may reduce the inflammatory response and mortality in patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). Methods: We measured serum levels of several inflammatory biomarkers, as well as mortality at various time-points, in 663 consecutive patients hospitalized for CAP; 128 (19%) were receiving chronic outpatient treatment with ICS. Patients on previous oral corticosteroids were excluded from the analysis. Results: On admission, patients treated with ICS were older; had been diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma and pneumonia in the previous year more often; and had higher CAP severity risk classes and lower tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha (P < 0.001) and interleukin (IL)-6 (P = 0.015) serum levels. After adjusting for potential confounders, this association persisted for TNF-alpha (P < 0.001), but not for IL-6. Mortality at 30 and 90 days tended to be lower in patients treated with ICS (P = 0.062 and 0.050, respectively), but mortality was similar after 1 year in both groups (16, 13% vs 81, 15% for patients treated and not treated with ICS, respectively). Hospital readmission rate after 1 year was higher in patients treated with ICS (49, 38% vs 109, 20%, P < 0.001). The association of ICS treatment with a previous diagnosis of pneumonia, lower levels of TNF-alpha and IL-6 on admission and higher readmission rates during follow up persisted in the subpopulation of 210 patients with COPD. Conclusions: Previous use of ICS in patients hospitalized for CAP is associated with a reduced systemic inflammatory response without any impact on long-term mortality.

Keywords

• community-acquired pneumonia; inflammatory biomarker; inhaled corticosteroid; systemic inflammatory response; tumour necrosis factor-alpha