Esberitox^® N as Supportive Therapy when Providing Standard Antibiotic Treatment in Subjects with a Severe Bacterial Infection (Acute Exacerbation of Chronic Bronchitis)

Abstract

53 patients with planned antibiotic therapy for the treatment of acute exacerbation of chronic bronchitis as an example of a severe bacterial infection requiring antibiotics were included in a prospective, multicentre, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. The chronic bronchitis was staged by forced expiratory volume of the 1st second (FEV₁) measured in the infection-free interval prior to the current episode and had to be between 35 and 75% for the predicted value. Patients were randomly assigned to receive newer macrolide antibiotics plus either Esberitox^® N or placebo. Antibiotic therapy was administered according to generally accepted guidelines and Esberitox N or placebo was given for 28 days. The baseline-adjusted means for FEV₁ (%) on day 10 were 68.7 points for the Esberitox N group and 59.2 points for the placebo group (p = 0.0303). For FEV₁ the difference between the two treatment groups was 267 ml (p = 0.0499). The time to half maximal improvement was 5.7 days in the Esberitox N group compared to 12.8 days in the placebo group. The treatment was well tolerated; no serious adverse events were documented. In conclusion, comedication of antibiotics with Esberitox N in subjects with acute exacerbation of chronic bronchitis seems to be of benefit for the patient. Apparently, therapy with Esberitox N leads to a faster recovery from this severe bacterial infection, possibly via preventing an impairment of the host’s immune system which might otherwise occur as a consequence of aggressive antimicrobial therapeutics.

Herbal medicines for the treatment of COPD: a systematic review

“…Of these, 48 articles were obtained for detailed evaluation and 19 RCTs [9,[12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30] . Figure 1 provides a flowchart of all included and excluded trials.…”

“…Fourteen RCTs [9,[12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24] met all inclusion criteria and were assessed. The main characteristics of these studies are summarised in table 2.…”

“…Of the 14 included RCTs, only three [9,16,24] described the methods for randomisation and five [9,15,17,21,22] mentioned double blinding, of which only one [9] described the method of blinding appropriately. Details of dropouts and withdrawals were described in only five trials [9,15,17,21,24].…”

“…Of these, 48 articles were obtained for detailed evaluation and 19 RCTs [9,[12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30] . Figure 1 provides a flowchart of all included and excluded trials.Fourteen RCTs [9,[12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24] met all inclusion criteria and were assessed. The main characteristics of these studies are summarised in table 2.…”

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“…A well-designed double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of 53 people tested its benefits in acute exacerbations of chronic bronchitis. [39] All participants in this trial received standard antibiotic therapy. The results showed that people receiving the herbal medication experienced more rapid improvements in lung function than those given placebo.…”