Introduction
Dupilumab (trade name: Dupixent) has been approved in Germany since May 2019 for the treatment of severe asthma in adults and children aged 12 and over. It is an additional treatment option if treatment with inhaled steroids and at least one other asthma medication no longer manages the symptoms effectively enough.
The airways of people with asthma are constantly inflamed due to an exaggerated response of the body’s immune system. When the mucous membranes of the bronchi come into contact with certain irritants, the airways may contract and become narrow. Symptoms include wheezing, coughing and shortness of breath, which can be treated with various medications.
Dupilumab can be used in people who have a type 2 asthma inflammation. In this very common form of asthma, the air that is breathed out contains too much nitric oxide and/or too many eosinophilic granulocytes. Eosinophilic granulocytes are cells of the body's immune system. In eosinophilic asthma, patients have an increased number of these cells in their blood and phlegm (the mucus they cough up). Nitric oxide forms if the inflammation of the airways is caused by an allergy. Doctors can measure it in the air you breathe out. A high level of nitric oxide is a sign of increased inflammation.
Dupilumab is an antibody to two chemical messengers of the immune system and is supposed to prevent inflammations in the bronchi.
