Budesonide Demonstrates Effectiveness in Eosinophilic Esophagitis

Jun 17, 2024

Photo Credit: Champja

For patients with eosinophilic esophagitis, Budesonide has proven to be effective in real-life settings after 12 weeks.

Budesonide demonstrated effectiveness as an induction treatment of eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) in a real-life setting, considering clinical, endoscopic, and histological outcomes at 12 weeks. Moreover, budesonide showed a good safety profile.

This multicenter, prospective, observational study enrolled 152 adult patients (121 males; mean age 35 years) with an EoE diagnosis across eight Italian centers and one Israeli center.¹ Participants received budesonide one mg twice daily as induction treatment for at least 12 weeks. Baseline clinical, demographic, and medication data were collected. Outcomes were evaluated after 12 weeks using the Endoscopic Reference Score (EREFS) for endoscopic appearance, the peak eosinophilic infiltration for histological assessment, and the Dysphagia Symptom Questionnaire (DSQ) and Health-Related QOL (HRQOL) questionnaire for clinical response.

The primary endpoints were endoscopic and histological remission, along with improvements in dysphagia symptoms and QOL.

The results showed that endoscopic remission was achieved in 54% of patients, with the mean EREFS score reducing from 3.1 to 1.3 (P<0.001). The histological remission was observed in 91% of patients, with a mean peak eosinophil count dropping from 33.3 eosinophils/high power field at baseline to 3.1 (P<0.001).

Regarding the dysphagia symptom, the mean DSQ score significantly reduced from 20.3 to 4.8 (P=0.001), while the QOL improved, with HRQOL scores increasing from 119.6 to 140 (P=0.02).

Of the 151 patients, 14 (9.2%) reported side effects, four of which required treatment discontinuation.

This study confirms budesonide’s effectiveness in inducing remission in patients with EoE, significantly improving clinical, endoscopic, and histological outcomes. The safety profile was favorable, with minimal treatment discontinuations.

Medical writing support was provided by Federica Angius.