Lei Y, Sheng JH, Jin XR, Liu XB, Zheng XY, Xu XH. Study on the efficacy of early treatment with pirfenidone on the lung function of patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. World J Clin Cases 2024; 12(22): 4913-4923 [DOI: 10.12998/wjcc.v12.i22.4913]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Xiao-Hua Xu, MM, Researcher, Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, The Quzhou Affiliate Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, No. 100 Minjiang Avenue, Quzhou 324000, Zhejiang Province, China. xxh406302383@163.com
Research Domain of This Article
Respiratory System
Article-Type of This Article
Retrospective Study
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Ying Lei, Jian-Hui Sheng, Xu-Ru Jin, Xian-Bing Liu, Xiao-Hua Xu, Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, The Quzhou Affiliate Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Quzhou 324000, Zhejiang Province, China
Xiao-Yan Zheng, Department of Clinical Laboratory, The Quzhou Affiliate Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Quzhou 324000, Zhejiang Province, China
Author contributions: Lei Y, Sheng JH, and Xu XH were the guarantors of the integrity of the entire study and wrote the manuscript; Xu XH and Lei Y conceived the study and design; Jin XR and Liu XB performed the literature review; Zheng XY and Sheng JH conducted the study; Lei Y and Jin XR conducted the statistical analyses; All authors have access to the data and contributed to the writing of this manuscript.
Institutional review board statement: This study was approved by the Quzhou people’s Hospital Ethics Committee.
Informed consent statement: All patients provided written informed consent.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.
Data sharing statement: Data for this study can be obtained from the corresponding authors.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Xiao-Hua Xu, MM, Researcher, Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, The Quzhou Affiliate Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, No. 100 Minjiang Avenue, Quzhou 324000, Zhejiang Province, China. xxh406302383@163.com
Received: March 3, 2024 Revised: May 10, 2024 Accepted: June 7, 2024 Published online: August 6, 2024 Processing time: 120 Days and 16.1 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND
Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is classified under fibrotic interstitial pneumonia, characterized by a chronic and progressive course. The predominant clinical features of IPF include dyspnea and pulmonary dysfunction.
AIM
To assess the effects of pirfenidone in the early treatment of IPF on lung function in patients.
METHODS
A retrospective analysis was performed on 113 patients with IPF who were treated in our hospital from November 2017 to January 2023. These patients were divided into two groups: control group (n = 53) and observation group (n = 60). In the control group, patients received routine therapy in combination with methylprednisolone tablets, while those in the observation group received routine therapy together with pirfenidone. After applying these distinct treatment approaches to the two groups, we assessed several parameters, including the overall effectiveness of clinical therapy, the occurrence of adverse reactions (e.g., nausea, vomiting, and anorexia), symptom severity scores, pulmonary function index levels, inflammatory marker levels, and the 6-min walk distance before and after treatment in both groups.
RESULTS
The observation group exhibited significantly higher rates than the control group after therapy, with a clear distinction (P < 0.05). After treatment, the observation group experienced significantly fewer adverse reactions than the control group, with a noticeable difference (P < 0.05). When analyzing the symptom severity scores between the two groups of patients after treatment, the observation group had significantly lower scores than the control group, with a distinct difference (P < 0.05). When comparing the pulmonary function index levels between the two groups of patients after therapy, the observation group displayed significantly higher levels than the control group, with a noticeable difference (P < 0.05). Evaluating the inflammatory marker data (C-reactive protein, interleukin-2 [IL-2], and IL-8) between the two groups of patients after therapy, the observation group exhibited significantly lower levels than the control group, with significant disparities (P < 0.05). Comparison of the 6-min walking distance data between the two groups of patients after treatment showed that the observation group achieved significantly greater distances than the control group, with a marked difference (P < 0.05).
CONCLUSION
Prompt initiation of pirfenidone treatment in individuals diagnosed with IPF can enhance pulmonary function, elevate inflammatory factor levels, and increase the distance covered in the 6-min walk test. This intervention is conducive to effectively decreasing the occurrence of adverse reactions in patients.
Core Tip: This study assessed the effects of pirfenidone in the early treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). A retrospective analysis was conducted on 113 patients with IPF, who were divided into control and observation groups. The control group received routine therapy in combination with methylprednisolone tablets, while the observation group received routine therapy along with pirfenidone. The results showed that the prompt initiation of pirfenidone treatment in individuals diagnosed with IPF can enhance pulmonary function, elevate inflammatory factor levels, and increase the distance covered in the 6-min walk test. This intervention is conducive to effectively decreasing the occurrence of adverse reactions.
