Background

Diffuse panbronchiolitis (DPB) is a chronic airways disease predominantly affecting East Asians. Macrolides, a class of antibiotics, have been used as the main treatment for DPB, based on evidence from retrospective and non-randomised studies.

Objectives

To assess the efficacy and safety of macrolides for DPB.

Search strategy

We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) (The Cochrane Library 2010, issue 1), which contains the Cochrane Acute Respiratory Infections Group's Specialised Register, MEDLINE (1966 to April 2010), EMBASE (1974 to April 2010), Chinese Biomedical Literature Database (CBM) (1978 to April 2010), China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) (1974 to April 2010), KoreaMed (1997 to April 2010) and Database of Japana Centra Revuo Medicina (1983 to April 2010).

Selection criteria

Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) or quasi-RCTs assessing the effect of macrolides for DPB.

Data collection and analysis

Two review authors independently assessed study quality and subsequent risk of bias according to the Cochrane Collaboration's tool for assessing risk of bias. The primary outcomes were five-year survival rate, lung function and clinical response. We used risk ratios (RR) for individual trial results in the data analysis and measured all outcomes with 95% confidence intervals (CI).

Main results

Only one RCT (19 participants) with significant methodological limitations was included in this review. It found that the computerised tomography images of all participants treated with a long-term, low-dose macrolide (erythromycin) improved from baseline, while the images of 71.4% of participants in the control group (with no treatment) worsened and 28.6% remained unchanged. Adverse effects were not reported.

Authors' conclusions

There is little evidence for macrolides in the treatment of DPB. We are therefore unable to make any new recommendations. It may be reasonable to use low-dose macrolides soon after diagnosis is made and to continue this treatment for at least six months, according to current guidelines.