Conditions: Atopic Asthma
Keywords: Asthma Allergy
Allocation: RANDOMIZED | Intervention model: PARALLEL
Enrollment: 24
Healthy volunteers: no

Brief summary:
This study is designed to determine if treatment with abatacept is effective in decreasing allergic airway inflammation in mild, atopic asthmatics. Subjects will be recruited from the greater St Louis Metropolitan area. Eligible individuals will undergo a titrated skin prick test. Following baseline evaluation, fiberoptic bronchoscopy with segmental allergen challenge (SAC) will be performed. The subjects will be randomized to either placebo or abatacept. After 12 weeks of study drug, the subjects will undergo repeat SAC. The primary endpoint will be to determine if treatment with abatacept results in a 50% or greater decrease in the percentage of eosinophils recovered in the bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid following SAC as compared to placebo control. Secondary endpoints include measures of airway obstruction and hyperreactivity, airway inflammation and symptoms as well as determination of the safety of abatacept administration in this subject population.

Detailed description:
please see summary

Arms:
arm 1: Administration of Abatacept intravenously 10 mg/kg every 2 weeks for 3 doses, followed by every 4 weeks for 2 doses. arm 2: Administration of placebo (normal saline) intravenously 10 mg/kg every 2 weeks for 3 doses, followed by every 4 weeks for 2 doses.

Interventions: intervention 1: abatacept intervention 2: Placebo
Intervention descriptions: intervention 1: Treatment with abatacept, 10 mg/kg IV, for 5 doses. intervention 2: Treatment with Placebo, IV

Protocol document: