SynthesisRespiratory research2026
Effectiveness of biologics for reducing occlusive mucus plugs in patients with severe asthma: a systematic review.
Synthesis in Respiratory research, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- Biologic Therapy Is Associated with Reduced Pleural-Line Thickness in Severe Asthma: A Prospective Transthoracic Ultrasound Study.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Article
- Therapeutic Applications of Immunobiologics in Autoimmune and Inflammatory Diseases.Pharmaceutics · 2026Review
- Mucus Plugging as a Treatable Trait Across the Asthma-COPD Spectrum: The Role of Type 2 Cytokine Blockade and Quantitative Imaging.Biomedicines · 2026Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
13 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Asthma is a heterogeneous disease characterized by chronic airway inflammation and reversible airflow obstruction. Particularly in severe asthma, airway mucus plugs can contribute to substantial and persistent airflow obstruction, despite inhaled corticosteroid and bronchodilator treatment. Consequently, it is important that clinicians assess and treat mucus plugs. Increased mucus production and airway eosinophilia caused by type 2 (T2) inflammation contributes to mucus plug formation and persistence. Several biologics are available to target T2 inflammation in asthma and studies have described their effects on airway mucus plugs using mucus plug scoring derived from computed tomography scans. However, the outcomes, designs and populations of the various studies have not been comprehensively summarized. A literature search was performed to identify primary publications examining the effects of biologics on mucus plugs in patients with moderate-to-severe asthma, organizing studies by design and study population. Three placebo-controlled randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were identified; one RCT of tezepelumab in patients across baseline blood eosinophil counts (BECs) and fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) levels and two RCTs of dupilumab in those with elevated BECs or sputum eosinophils and/or elevated FeNO levels. Across these RCTs, biologic treatment decreased mucus plug scores compared with placebo. In the tezepelumab RCT, greater effects were observed in patients with T2-high asthma, highlighting the association between mucus plugging and T2 inflammation. Among T2-high populations, effects were of a similar magnitude across biologics studied. Other biologics (benralizumab, mepolizumab, omalizumab and reslizumab) were evaluated in observational studies without a placebo control, demonstrating reductions in mucus plug scores after treatment. In several studies, decreases in mucus plugs with biologic treatment were associated with improvements in functional outcomes, including pre-bronchodilator forced expiratory volume in 1 second (pre-BD FEV
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Registered trials
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