| Summary: | Asthma is a common chronic respiratory disorder characterized by reversible airway obstruction, pulmonary inflammation, airway hyper-responsiveness, and airway remodelling.1,2 Patients with asthma typically present with paroxysmal or persistent symptoms of wheezing, dyspnea, chest tightness, sputum production, and coughing that are associated with airflow limitation and airway hyper-responsiveness to endogenous and exogenous stimuli (e.g., exercise; viral respiratory infections; or exposure to certain allergens, irritants, or gases).2 Severe eosinophilic asthma is an asthma phenotype characterized by the presence of eosinophils in the airways and sputum, despite compliance with conventional asthma therapy.3 Severe asthma can have a profound effect on patients' day-to-day lives, such as limiting physical activity, reducing performance at work or school, restricting social interactions, and leading to stigma. It may also necessitate frequent physician and emergency room visits. Reslizumab is a humanized immunoglobulin G (IgG)4 kappa monoclonal antibody that binds to human interleukin-5, thereby reducing the production and survival of eosinophils. Reslizumab was approved by Health Canada as add-on maintenance treatment for adult patients with severe eosinophilic asthma who are inadequately controlled with medium- to high-dose inhaled corticosteroids (ICSs) and an additional asthma controller(s) (e.g., long-acting beta-agonist [LABA]) and who have a blood eosinophil count of e 400 cells/[mu]L at initiation of the treatment. The recommended dose is 3 mg/kg administered by intravenous (IV) infusion every four weeks.4 The objective of this report was to perform a systematic review of the beneficial and harmful effects of reslizumab for the treatment of severe eosinophilic asthma in adults whose symptoms are inadequately controlled with medium- to high-dose ICS and an additional asthma controller(s) and who have a blood eosinophil count of e 400 cells/[mu]L.
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