Mexico vs Global Severe Asthma Study Shows Steroid Reduction Benefits and Need for Targeted Treatments
- 7 days ago
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Long-term oral corticosteroid (LTOCS) use has been found to be lower in Mexican patients than globally and may be associated with impact to critical health outcomes, with potentially oral corticosteroid-related diseases found to be less common in Mexican patients. These findings are reported in the real-world study, “Severe asthma patients’ characteristics in Mexico versus International Severe Asthma Registry (ISAR) Global”, recently published in Current Allergy and Asthma Reports. The study compares characteristics of ISAR Mexican patients (n=438) with those of the global ISAR population (n=17,567), with characteristics analysed at the point of initiation of specialist biologic therapies, or at first assessment following enrolment to the registry for those not initiated on biologics. ISAR is a global adult severe asthma registry that collects data from over 37,000 patients across 32 countries. It was established in 2017 by a group of international severe asthma experts in collaboration with Optimum Patient Care Global (OPCG) and AstraZeneca.
Further to these results and of particular significance, treatment with specialist biologic therapy was higher in Mexico at 79% compared to under 50% for the global severe asthma population. Mexican patients were additionally found to have had better lung function than patients in the global comparison.
While many positive patient outcomes are being achieved in this population, the study also highlights key unmet needs and the potential to drive further change. Though reduced exposure to long-term oral corticosteroids may have lessened corticosteroid-related diseases for Mexican patients, this change may also be linked to having more asthma attacks (exacerbations), worse asthma control, and greater short-term corticosteroid use than the global population (Figure 1). The study also found more Mexican patients had positive allergy tests, at ~80% vs ~67% globally, and subsequently, Type 2 (T2) comorbidities (those linked to allergy and eosinophils) were more common and numerous in Mexican patients (Figure 2). However, the characteristics described (particularly allergic tendency, number of exacerbations and reduced steroid-related health problems) are noted by the authors to increase the likelihood of response to biologic therapy, highlighting the potential impact of escalation in treatment pathways for this population. Importantly, since poorer asthma control and greater exacerbations impact rates of remission in asthma, earlier intervention may also be critical to achieving change.
How do the findings of this study impact clinical practice, and what are the next steps to enable improvement to patient care? Lead author of the study, Dr Désirée Larenas-Linnemann, Allergist and Pediatrician, concludes “Reducing the rate of severe asthma exacerbations and improving asthma control should be key goals in Mexican severe asthma patients, be it with enhanced inhaled therapy or, if these goals are not reached within a reasonable time with inhalers, through prompt initiation of biologics”.
To learn more about this study on patient characteristics of ISAR Mexico versus the ISAR global population, please read the full publication in Current Allergy and Asthma Reports, as well as the accompanying slide deck. To learn more about the ISAR global study of comorbidities (PRISM I), please read the full publication and press release.
Abbreviations: CS = corticosteroids; FEV1 = Forced Expiratory Volume in one second; Mex = Mexican patients; NS = not significant
ISAR is conducted by the Observational and Pragmatic Research Institute (OPRI) Pte Ltd and was co-funded by Optimum Patient Care Global (OPCG) and AstraZeneca Ltd. ISAR is operated by OPCG and co-funded by OPCG and AstraZeneca.
About OPRI
The Observational and Pragmatic Research Institute (OPRI) is an internationally recognized independent research organization dedicated to providing real-world evidence that supports best practices in chronic disease management in primary care. Learn more at https://www.opri.org.uk/. For media inquiries and additional information, please contact https://www.opri.org.uk/contact.
About ISAR
The International Severe Asthma Registry (ISAR) is the first global adult severe asthma registry, providing a rich, standardized dataset to advance research, clinical practice, and policy in severe asthma care. Since its establishment in 2017, ISAR has recruited >37,000 patients from 32 countries, and achieved 40 publications. ISAR fosters international collaboration to improve outcomes for patients worldwide. Learn more at https://www.isar.opcglobal.org.
References
1. Larenas-Linnemann D et al. Current Allergy and Asthma Reports, (2026) 26:25. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11882-026-01264-7
2. Scelo G, Torres-Duque CA, Maspero J, et al. Analysis of comorbidities and multimorbidity in adult patients in the International Severe Asthma Registry (PRISM I). Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol 2024;132(1):42-53. https://doi.org/10.1164/rccm.202305-0808OC