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Comparative efficacy of aclidinium versus glycopyrronium and tiotropium, as maintenance treatment of moderate to severe COPD patients: a systematic review and network meta-analysis

Authors Karabis A, Lindner L, Mocarski M, Huisman E, Greening A

Received 24 May 2013

Accepted for publication 10 July 2013

Published 9 September 2013 Volume 2013:8 Pages 405—423

DOI https://doi.org/10.2147/COPD.S48967

Checked for plagiarism Yes

Review by Single anonymous peer review

Peer reviewer comments 2



Andreas Karabis,1 Leandro Lindner,2 Michelle Mocarski,3 Eline Huisman,1 Andrew Greening4

1MAPI Consultancy, AX Houten, The Netherlands; 2Almirall SA, Barcelona, Spain; 3Health Economics and Outcomes Research, Forest Research Institute, Jersey City, NJ, USA; 4University of Edinburgh, Lothian University Hospitals' Division, Edinburgh, UK

Background: Aclidinium bromide is a new long-acting muscarinic antagonist (LAMA) indicated for maintenance bronchodilator treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The efficacy of aclidinium was compared with tiotropium and glycopyrronium, using a network meta-analysis (NMA) of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in moderate-to-severe COPD patients.
Methods: A systematic review was performed to identify RCTs evaluating aclidinium 400 µg twice daily (BID), glycopyrronium 50 µg once daily (OD), tiotropium 18 µg OD, or tiotropium 5 µg OD in adults with moderate-to-severe COPD. The outcomes of interest were: trough forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1); St George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) total score and proportion of patients achieving ≥4 unit change; Transition Dyspnea Index (TDI) focal score and proportion of patients achieving ≥1 point change. The results were synthesized by means of a Bayesian NMA.
Results: Twenty-one studies (22,542 patients) were included: aclidinium 400 µg BID (three studies); tiotropium 5 µg OD (three studies); tiotropium 18 µg OD (13 studies); and glycopyrronium 50 µg OD (two studies). Regarding trough FEV1 at 24 weeks, aclidinium demonstrated comparable efficacy to tiotropium 5 µg (difference in change from baseline [CFB]), (0.02 L [95% credible interval CrI −0.05, 0.09]); tiotropium 18 µg (0.02 L [95% CrI −0.05, 0.08]); and glycopyrronium (0.00 L [95% CrI −0.07, 0.07]). Aclidinium resulted in higher improvement in SGRQ score at 24 weeks, compared to tiotropium 5 µg (difference in CFB, −2.44 [95% CrI −4.82, −0.05]); and comparable results to tiotropium 18 µg (−1.80 [95% CrI −4.52, 0.14]) and glycopyrronium (−1.52 [95% CrI −4.08, 1.03]). Improvements in TDI score were comparable for all treatments.
Conclusion: Maintenance treatment with aclidinium 400 µg BID is expected to produce similar improvements in lung function, health-related quality of life, and dyspnea compared to tiotropium 5 µg OD; tiotropium 18 µg OD; and glycopyrronium 50 µg OD.

Keywords: COPD, aclidinium, tiotropium, glycopyrronium, systematic review, network meta-analysis

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