Once-Daily Administration of Fluticasone Propionate Does Not Worsen Controlled Airway Hyperresponsiveness in Patients with Asthma

Background: Inhaled steroids are currently the most important drugs for asthma patients, but compliance tends to be low. Compliance could be improved by reducing the number of daily administrations. Objectives: In the present study, we compared once- and twice-daily administration of fluticasone propionate (FP) to determine the differences in efficacy. Methods: Subjects were 40 patients diagnosed with bronchial asthma with stable symptoms and pulmonary functions who were on twice-daily FP administration of 100 µg. There were 14 men and 26 women ranging from 29 to 72 years of age. After a 4-week observation period, subjects were randomized into two administration groups by the envelope method and followed for 8 weeks: group A, once-daily administration (200 µg of FP at night), and group B, twice-daily administration (100 µg of FP in the morning and at night). Clinical symptoms, pulmonary functions and airway responsiveness were compared between these two groups. Results: No significant deterioration in clinical symptoms, pulmonary functions and airway responsiveness were observed in group A compared with group B. Conclusions: These results demonstrate that once-daily FP administration is as effective as twice-daily administration, and that it may improve the compliance for inhaled steroids.