Anti-interleukin 5 therapy for chronic rhinosinusitis with polyps.

Introduction: Chronic rhinosinusitis is the inflammation of sinonasal mucosa lasting longer than 12 weeks. Two clinical forms are distinguished: chronic rhinosinusitis with polyps and without polyps. Patients with chronic rhinosinusitis with polyps exhibit high levels of interleukin 5, which promotes differentiation and survival of eosinophils. So, minimizing their circulation has been proposed as a new treatment strategy. However, there is no clarity regarding its real effectiveness.
Methods: To answer this question we used Epistemonikos, the largest database of systematic reviews in health, which is maintained by screening multiple information sources, including MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane, among others. We extracted data from the systematic reviews, reanalyzed data of primary studies, conducted a meta-analysis and generated a summary of findings table using the GRADE approach.
Results and Conclusions: We identified three systematic reviews included three primary studies overall, all corresponding to randomized trials. We concluded inhibitors of interleukin 5 might decrease nasal polyps score. Although they might be associated with adverse effects, these would be infrequent and of low severity. However, the certainty of the evidence is low.