Asthma researchers have studied a person’s “body clock” to identify that mid-afternoon is the best time to use a daily puffer treatment.
The team from the University of Manchester, in the United Kingdom, found a dose of inhaled beclomethasone, or the “brown” steroid inhaler, could lead to better clinical outcomes if taken between 3pm and 4pm.
Study lead Hannah Durrington said the study was the first to show the effect of coordinating a commonly used asthma treatment with the body’s circadian rhythms, or body clock, on daily physiological and immunological changes.
Dr Durrington said it followed a 2023 study by the team which demonstrated enhanced steroid sensitivity in immune cells at 4pm compared to 4am.
She said it also supported the theory that the onset of the inflammatory cascade, a complex series of chemical reactions occurring within the body leading to inflammation and healing, began in the mid-afternoon.
“This study shows that aligning the timing of beclomethasone with the body clock could have significant impacts on treatment outcomes.
“And this occurred without any of the associated adverse effects or costs of taking higher doses of steroids.”
Dr Durrington said there was currently no cure for asthma, though most people with asthma could control their symptoms using asthma inhalers and other medicines.
“Up to three quarters of patients experience worsening symptoms overnight and up to 80 percent of fatal asthma attacks occur at night.”
She said the study showed the mid-afternoon dose resulted in the largest increase in overnight lung function and a significant overnight suppression in blood eosinophil counts compared to once-daily morning and standard twice-daily dosing regimes.
Read the full paper: The impact of dosage timing for inhaled corticosteroids in asthma: a randomised three-way crossover trial.
