Anti-inflammatory reliever therapy (AIR) for asthma

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

Extract In 2019, the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) made ground-breaking recommendations to change the way asthma had been managed for the previous 50 years [1]. The established norm of using short-acting β2-agonist (SABA) “reliever” inhalers, with or without separate corticosteroid containing “preventer”, “controller” or “maintenance” inhalers (ICS), was no longer recommended for most people with asthma. Recognising the dangers associated with over-reliance on SABA relievers and insufficient or no ICS use, GINA called for a new treatment paradigm. Two-in-one anti-inflammatory reliever inhalers (AIRs), containing a combination of ICS and the fast- and long-acting β2-agonist formoterol fumarate (ICS/formoterol), became the preferred reliever in asthma; either as reliever-only for mild asthma or as both maintenance and reliever therapy (MART) for moderate-to severe asthma. But the use of ICS/formoterol as a reliever-only in mild asthma, without additional regular maintenance doses, remains unlicensed in many countries, potentially impacting adoption.