The impact of CRTH2 antagonist OC 000459 on pulmonary function of asthma patients: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Introduction
The chemoattractant receptor expressed on T-helper (Th) type 2 cells (CRTH2) antagonist OC 000459 showed the potential in improving pulmonary function of asthma patients. Aim: We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to explore the impact of CRTH2 antagonist OC 000459 on pulmonary function for asthma.

Material and methods
PubMed, Embase, Web of science, EBSCO, and Cochrane library databases were systematically searched. This meta-analysis included randomized controlled trials (RCTs) assessing the effect of CRTH2 anta­gonist OC 000459 on pulmonary function for asthma. Two investigators independently searched articles, extracted data, and assessed the quality of included studies.

Results
Four RCTs were included in the meta-analysis. Overall, compared with the control intervention for asthma patients, CRTH2 antagonist OC 000459 could significantly improve FEV1 (SMD = 0.22; 95% CI: 0.02–0.42; p = 0.03), peak expiratory flow (SMD = 0.22; 95% CI: 0.01–0.42; p = 0.04) and reduce the respiratory tract infection (RR = 0.47; 95% CI: 0.26–0.85; p = 0.01), but revealed no remarkable effect on predicted FEV1 (SMD = 0.14; 95% CI: –0.18 to 0.45; p = 0.39), or treatment-related adverse events (RR = 0.84; 95% CI: 0.52–1.36; p = 0.48).

Conclusions
CRTH2 antagonist OC 000459 might be effective and safe to improve pulmonary function in asthma patients.