DUNDEE UNIVERSITY scientists have taken an important step towards tailored medicine for asthma sufferers after finding that children with the condition could be helped if they are tested for a specific gene.
A team working with colleagues at Brighton University has found that the condition of asthmatic children could be prevented from worsening if they are given a more suitable drug.
Many asthmatic children may be suffering needlessly through taking a medicine that isn’t doing them any good.
The joint team carried out the first genotyped study comparing additional treatments given to asthmatic children who experience symptoms despite use of their prescribed inhaled steroid preventer.
One in seven sufferers carry the arginine-16 genotype of the beta-2 receptor, and the research found their condition could be aggravated by the use of the long-term controller medicine Salmeterol, administered through an inhaler.
Evidence emerged that those who reacted poorly to Salmeterol responded better to the anti-inflammatory medicine Montelukast. They experienced an improved quality of life, and coughed much less.
The researchers concluded that the children with serious asthma taking Salmeterol could be treated more effectively with the help of a simple and inexpensive gene test.