Objective:To explore the predictive value of exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) for the risk of acute exacerbation in stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients over the next year and evaluate whether it can guide the use of inhaled corticosteroids (ICS).Methods:This study was a multicenter, retrospective and observational cohort study. The subjects of this study were stable COPD patients who were hospitalized in 12 hospitals in Hunan Province and Guangxi from January 2017 to December 2021. The patient′s basic Demography information, previous acute exacerbation history, pulmonary function, FeNO, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease assessment test questionnaire (CAT) score, modified British Medical Research Council dyspnea questionnaire (mMRC) score, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease control questionnaire (CCQ) score, and detailed treatment plan were collected. Based on FeNO 25 ppb, patients were divided into a high FeNO group and a normal FeNO group. All patients were followed up for 1 year and information on acute exacerbation was recorded.Results:A total of 825 patients were included, aged (63.5±9.1)years, with a median of 25 ppb of FeNO. A number of 825 patients were followed up for 1 year, of which 262(31.8%) experienced acute exacerbation. Multivariate logistic regression found that FeNO, CAT score, smoking cessation, and past history of acute exacerbation were independent factors predicting acute exacerbation in COPD patients in the next year (all P<0.05). High FeNO was a protective factor for acute exacerbation in COPD patients in the next year, with an OR value of 0.10 ( P<0.001). Further analysis found that the proportion of patients in the high FeNO group using ICS was significantly higher than that in the normal FeNO group [58.8%(247/420) vs 48.6%(197/405), P=0.003]. In the high FeNO group, using ICS can reduce the incidence of acute exacerbation of COPD in the next year [8.9%(22/247) vs 15.6%(27/173), P<0.05], while in the normal FeNO group, there was no statistically significant difference in the frequency of acute exacerbation between patients using ICS and those not using ICS ( P>0.05). Conclusions:FeNO is an independent factor predicting the acute exacerbation of COPD in the next year, and patients with high FeNO levels may consider using ICS in combination.

Asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease overlap (ACO) is a hot topic in recent years. Although the precise definition of ACO is still controversial, scholars have found that the patients with overlapping features of asthma and COPD have a worse prognosis and increased medical cost than those with asthma or COPD alone. Thus, there is a big challenge to have a better understanding and to manage these patients in clinical practice. To strengthen awareness of this type of patients, the Global initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) and Global initiative for asthma (GINA) in 2014 named them as " Asthma Chronic Obstructive Lung Overlap Syndrome" (ACOS), which was further revised to the Asthma Chronic Obstructive Lung Overlap (ACO) in the follow-up GINA guidelines (2017). In the updated version, it emphasized that ACO was not a separate disease. However, although the research on ACO has increased significantly in recent years, there are still many controversies, which includes the definition, diagnostic criteria and treatment therapies. In this review, we provide the recent advances in the diagnosis and an overview of available treatment for of ACO.

Objective:To compare the clinical characteristics and changes in inhaled drugs of newly diagnosed chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients in some hospitals in Hunan and Guizhou from 2017 to 2023, in order to further understand the current status of COPD diagnosis and treatment.Methods:This cross-sectional study included stable COPD patients who were initially diagnosed in the respiratory and critical care departments of 13 hospitals in China from January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2023. They were divided into 7 groups based on the time of their initial visit: the 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023 groups. Basic information of the patients, the percentage of forced expiratory volume per second (FEV 1% pred), FEV 1/forced vital capacity (FVC), COPD assessment questionnaire (CAT) scores, the number of acute weightings in the past year, and inhalation drug regimens were collected. Results:The CAT scores of patients with COPD who visited from 2017 to 2019 were significantly higher than those from 2020 to 2023 (all P<0.05); The FEV 1% pred and FEV 1/FVC of patients with COPD showed an increasing trend from 2017 to 2023; The proportion of patients using long-acting muscarine anticholinergic (LAMA) gradually decreased between 2017 and 2023, with 8.0% (134/1 665) of patients with COPD using single drug LAMA in 2023. The proportion of patients using double branch dilators has been increasing year by year in 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021, and the proportion of patients using double branch dilators for COPD has stabilized in 2021, 2022, and 2023, with no statistically significant difference between groups ( P>0.05). The proportion of patients with COPD who used triple inhalation drugs was the lowest in 2020 and 2021 ( P<0.05). In 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022, and 2023, the proportion of patients with COPD who used triple inhalation drugs was 45.2%(364/806), 54.0%(730/1 352), 55.5%(742/1 337), 45.8%(717/1 565), and 51.1%(851/1 665), respectively. The compliance with inhalation prescriptions and Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (GOLD) documents for newly diagnosed patients with COPD from 2017 to 2023 was 47.9%(386/806), 35.1%(474/1 352), 33.7%(451/1 337), 40.3%(405/1 005), 31.2%(372/1 193), 28.4%(445/1 565), and 58.8%(979/1 665), respectively. Conclusions:With the migration of time, the clinical symptoms of newly diagnosed COPD patients have been alleviated, indicating a trend of forward shift in treatment time; The proportion of double bronchodilators used has increased, and the proportion of triple inhaled drugs used is relatively high. The compliance with GOLD documents is still not ideal.

Objective:To compare the differences in inhaled medication prescriptions among patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) who visited the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (GOLD 2023) one year after its release and the previous year, and to analyze the impact of GOLD 2023 on physician inhaled medication prescriptions.Methods:This study was a cross-sectional study, with data sourced from the RealDTC study. The study subjects were chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients who visited the respiratory and critical care departments of 13 hospitals in southern China from November 14, 2021 to November 15, 2023. According to the time of patient visits, they are divided into the following two groups: the group 1 year before the release of GOLD 2023 (November 14, 2021 to November 14, 2022), and the group 1 year after the release of GOLD 2023 (November 15, 2022 to November 15, 2023). We collected demographic characteristics, lung function, symptom scores, history of acute exacerbation in the past year, and inhaled medication prescriptions from patients. According to the symptom score of COPD patients in GOLD 2023 and their history of acute exacerbation in the past year, they were divided into three groups: A, B, and E. The treatment status of inhaled drugs in groups A, B, and E before and after the release of GOLD 2023 was compared.Results:There were statistically significant differences in COPD Assessment Test (CAT) scores, Modified Medical Research Council (mMRC) scores, and the number of acute exacerbations in the past year between patients with COPD before and after the release of GOLD 2023 (all P<0.05). Compared with the group one year before the release of GOLD 2023, the proportion of patients in the group one year after the release of GOLD 2023 using long-acting muscarinic antagonists (LAMA) and inhaled corticosteroids (ICS)+ long-acting β2-receptor agonists (LABA) was lower, while the proportion of patients using LABA+ LAMA and ICS+ LABA+ LAMA was higher (all P<0.05). There was no statistically significant difference ( P>0.05) in the proportion of patients in group A using LAMA between the year before and after the release of GOLD 2023. Compared to the year before the release of GOLD 2023, the proportion of patients in group A who prescribed ICS+ LABA was lower, while the proportion of using LABA+ LAMA and ICS+ LABA+ LAMA was higher (all P<0.05); The proportion of patients in group B who prescribed LAMA and ICS+ LABA was lower (all P<0.05), while the proportion of using LABA+ LAMA and ICS+ LABA+ LAMA was higher (all P<0.05); The proportion of patients in group E who prescribed LAMA and ICS+ LABA was lower (all P<0.05), while the proportion of using LABA+ LAMA and ICS+ LABA+ LAMA was higher (all P<0.05). Conclusions:After the release of GOLD 2023, the prescription of ICS+ LAMA in groups A, B, and E decreased, and the prescriptions of LABA+ LAMA and ICS+ LABA+ LAMA increased compared to before; However, in the real world, the compliance of physicians with GOLD 2023 is still not ideal.

Objective:To understand the use of inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in the real world and analyze its compliance with the guidelines.Methods:This study is a multicenter, cross-sectional study. 1 051 COPD patients who were treated in the Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, the First Affiliated Hospital of Shaoyang College and Zhuzhou Central Hospital from January 2020 to March 2022 were collected. The general information, drug use, types of exposure risk factors, acute exacerbation (AE) in the past year, the scores of the modified British Medical Research Council Dyspnea Questionnaire (mMRC), COPD Assessment Test (CAT), pulmonary function, blood routine of patients were collected. The status of ICS use in COPD patients, the clinical characteristics and guideline compliance of non-ICS users and ICS users were analyzed.Results:Among 1 051 patients with COPD, ICS was used in 490 cases (46.6%) and was not used in 561 cases (53.4%). ICS use was associated with relapse, frequent AE, severe AE, Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (GOLD) grade 2 or above, GOLD D group, mMRC score, bronchial asthma, and blood eosinophils (EOS) (all P<0.05). Among 1 051 patients, 583(55.5%) were newly treated, 222(38.1%) were newly treated with ICS, and 361(61.9%) were not treated with ICS. ICS use in newly treated patients was associated with frequent AE, severe AE in the past year, GOLD grade 2 to 3, GOLD B and D group, mMRC score, bronchial asthma, and blood EOS (all P<0.05). Conclusions:Nearly half of patients with COPD are treated with ICS, and patients with ICS use had a higher risk of AE, more severe symptoms, higher blood EOS, and higher rates of asthma. However, there still exists the phenomenon of overuse of ICS.

Objective:To observe the clinical characteristics and guideline compliance of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients with initial triple therapy in real-life world.Methods:This study is a cross-sectional study. The subjects of the study were COPD patients admitted to 13 hospitals in Hunan Province and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region from December 2016 to December 2021. The initial treatment was triple inhaled drugs. The data collected included gender, age, diagnosis, body mass index (BMI), history of acute exacerbation (AE) in the past year, pulmonary function, COPD Assessment Test (CAT) score, modified British Medical Research Council Dyspnea Questionnaire (mMRC), inhaled drugs and other indicators. The characteristics and differences of COPD patients before and after 2020 were analyzed.Results:7 184 patients with COPD were enrolled in this study, including 2 409 COPD patients treated with initial triple therapy, accounting for 33.5%(2 409/7 184). Taking January 1st, 2020 as the cut-off point, 1 825 COPD patients (75.8%) received initial treatment with triple inhaled drugs before 2020 and 584 patients (24.2%) after 2020 were included in this study. Compared with COPD patients before 2020, the COPD patients after 2020 had higher FEV 1% [(40.9±15.5 )% vs (39.3±15.5)%, P=0.040], lower CAT [(15.8±6.5)point vs (17.5±6.2)point, P<0.001], less AE in the past year [1(0, 2)times vs 1(0, 2)times, P=0.001] and higher rate of non-AE [255(43.7%) vs 581(37.1%), P=0.006]. In addition, before 2020, patients with COPD were mainly treated with open triple drugs (1 825/1 825, 100%); after 2020, 306 patients (52.4%) received open triple inhaled drugs, and 278 patients (47.6%) received closed triple inhaled drugs. Conclusions:In real-life world, most of patients with COPD treated with triple therapy have severe lung function, obvious symptoms and high risk of acute exacerbation. The real-world prescribing of triple therapy in patients with COPD does not always reflect recommendations in guidelines and strategies, and overtreatment is common. After 2020, prescribing triple therapy for COPD patients is more positive and worse consistency with guideline.