The inhaled drug fluticasone propionate is unlike to cause major hormone disturbances in patients with severe asthma, according to a report in the Annals of Allergy Asthma and Immunology.

Previous reports have yielded conflicting results regarding whether fluticasone, an inhaled steroid drug, can disrupt steroid hormones in the body.

In the current study, 10 patients with severe asthma and 10 healthy comparison subjects were treated with fluticasone for 2 weeks. During that time, levels of an important steroid hormone called cortisol were measured.

According to Dr. Daniel K. C. Lee and colleagues, from Ninewells Hospital in Dundee, Scotland, fluticasone had no major effect on cortisol levels. In contrast, in healthy subjects, use of the drug did reduce hormone production.

“It is reassuring to know that patients with severe asthma” do not experience hormone disturbances when using fluticasone, the investigators write.

Nonetheless, they say, “vigilance is required because there may be susceptible patients who might be particularly sensitive” to fluticasone and similar drugs.

SOURCE: Annals of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology, September 2004.