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Corrado Pelaia,1 Alessandro Vatrella,2 Andrea Bruni,1 Rosa Terracciano,3 Girolamo Pelaia1 1Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, Section of Respiratory Diseases, “Magna Græcia” University of Catanzaro, Catanzaro, Italy; 2Department of Medicine, Surgery and Dentistry, Section of Respiratory Diseases, University of Salerno, Salerno, Italy; 3Department of Health Sciences, “Magna Græcia” University of Catanzaro, Catanzaro, Italy Abstract: Asthma is a widespread and heterogeneous inflammatory disease of the airways, which is characterized by several different phenotypes and endotypes. In particular, eosinophilic airway inflammation is a common pathologic trait of both allergic and nonallergic asthma. The key cytokine responsible for maturation, activation, recruitment, and survival of eosinophils is interleukin (IL)-5, which is mainly produced by T helper 2 (Th2) lymphocytes and group 2 innate lymphoid cells. Therefore, for uncontrolled patients with severe eosinophilic asthma, who are not fully responsive to corticosteroids, IL-5 represents a very important molecular target for add-on biological therapies. Among these new treatments, anti-IL-5 monoclonal antibodies such as mepolizumab and reslizumab have been developed and clinically evaluated. Furthermore, benralizumab is currently the only available biologic drug that specifically binds to the IL-5 receptor, thus preventing the interaction with its ligand and the consequent pro-inflammatory effects. The effectiveness of benralizumab in improving severe eosinophilic asthma has been well-documented by many randomized controlled trials. Keywords: IL-5, IL-5 receptor, severe eosinophilic asthma, benralizumab |
