Erdosteine: Reigniting a Thiol Mucolytic for Management of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.

Agam Vora, Mangesh Tiwaskar, Charmy Prajapati, Amit Qamra, Parthasarathy Muralidharan, Anooja Jose

Journal: The Journal of the Association of Physicians of India 2025;73(1):29-34

PMID: 39893525

Abstract

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a major health burden globally and in India. Oxidative stress plays a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of COPD, causing mucus hypersecretion, bronchoconstriction, and accelerated lung function decline. An important class of pharmacological agents that are often less discussed are the thiol mucolytic agents, which have a two-pronged effect of serving as both a mucolytic and an antioxidant. One of these agents which has reignited interest lately is erdosteine, with recent evidence demonstrating advantages over traditionally used N-acetylcysteine. In this review, we have summarized the key available evidence for the role of erdosteine in COPD, with takeaways on its place in therapy.

Address: Medical Director, Vora Clinic and Brahma Kumaris' Global Hospital and Research Centre, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.; Consultant Physician & Diabetologist, Shilpa Medical & Research Centre, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India, Orcid: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4024-0095.; Medical Affairs, Depatment of Medical Affairs, Macleods Pharmaceuticals, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India, Orcid: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-0193-3664.; Medical Affairs, Depatment of Medical Affairs, Macleods Pharmaceuticals, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India, Orcid: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9489-6124.; Medical Affairs, Depatment of Medical Affairs, Macleods Pharmaceuticals, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.; Medical Affairs, Depatment of Medical Affairs, Macleods Pharmaceuticals, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India, Orcid: https://orcid.org/0009-0002-2663-4645, Corresponding Author.

DOI: 10.59556/japi.73.0810

Link outs

Free resources

Medical:

https://medlineplus.gov/copd.html

MeSH Terms: Humans, Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive, Thioglycolates, Expectorants, Thiophenes, Acetylcysteine, Antioxidants, Oxidative Stress