Effects of omalizumab on lung function in patients with moderate-to-severe allergic asthma: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: With the rise of targeted treatments for asthma, treatment with omalizumab is a new option.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the improvement of pulmonary function with additional omalizumab treatment in patients (⩾6 years old) with moderate-to-severe allergic asthma.

DATA SOURCES AND METHODS: Observational studies of randomized controlled trials of add-on omalizumab for the treatment of patients with moderate-to-severe allergic asthma, published from the establishment till August 2022, were retrieved from WAN FANG DATA, PubMed, CNKI, Embase, Cochrane, and Web of Science databases. Data extraction and quality evaluation were performed on the literature that met the inclusion criteria, using RevMan 5.3 to analyze the data.

RESULTS: A total of 11 randomized controlled clinical trials were included, involving a total of 3578 patients with asthma, 1856 patients in the omalizumab group, and 1722 patients in the control group. The improvement in Forced expiratory volume in 1 s as a percentage of predicted normal and Forced expiratory volume in 1 s was more pronounced in the omalizumab-treated group [MD = 3.91, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.89-5.94, p  = 0.0002; MD = 0.09, 95% CI: 0.05-0.13, p  < 0.0001], while the improvement in Morning Peak expiratory flow rate was not statistically different between the two groups (MD = 3.64, 95% CI: -22.17-29.45, p  = 0.78).

CONCLUSION: Additional omalizumab treatment showed some improvement in lung function in patients with moderate-to-severe asthma.

TRIAL REGISTRATION: PROSPERO ID:CRD42022378498.