Neither heart rate nor blood pressure worsened under long-term use of , according to a post hoc pooled analysis published in Pulmonary Pharmacology & Therapeutics.
The study was conducted by Stefan Andreas, MD, department of cardiology and pneumology, University Medical Centre Göttingen, and Lung Clinic Immenhausen, Germany. The analysis evaluated data from four studies and included a total of 3,104 patients with moderate to very severe COPD, which was defined as Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease stage 2-4. Patients were randomized to either once-daily olodaterol (5 or 10 mcg), twice-daily formoterol (12 mcg), or placebo. Heart rate and blood pressure were measured before and after dosing at baseline and at four time points during the study: 6 weeks, 12 weeks, 24 weeks, and 48 weeks.
At all time points, the increases seen in the placebo group were greater than seen in the treatment groups; both systolic and diastolic blood pressure showed either slight decreases from or similarities with those seen at baseline, depending on time point. Furthermore, short-term effects were seen around dosing, from before administration to after, although these changes were quantitatively small.
One limitation of the study is that it couldn’t include patients with unstable COPD because of safety reasons; this prevents the findings from being more broadly generalizable.
“These findings, in a large COPD database, speak against the potential negative cardiovascular effects of olodaterol, as well as those of formoterol,” the researchers concluded.
They reported personal fees from various industry entities, such as Novartis, AstraZeneca, and GlaxoSmithKline. Some also reported receiving personal fees from or working for Boehringer Ingelheim, which funded the work.
SOURCE: Andreas S et al. Pulm Pharmacol Ther. 2018 Aug 2. doi: 10.1016/j.pupt.2018.08.002.