Inhalation therapy – the optimal route of drug administration for the treatment of respiratory diseases

Abstract

The purpose of this review was to introduce inhalation therapy as a suitable method for the consumption of medications in the therapeutic of equine respiratory diseases. Respiratory diseases can reduce the equine's athletic activities and lead to complications and deaths. Therefore, quick identification of respiratory disease and choosing the appropriate treatment method such as inhalation therapy should be prioritized. Inhalation therapy is a route for delivery drugs directly to the airways. The amount of drug deposition in the lung determines the effectiveness of inhalation therapy and pulmonary drug deposition in turn, depends on the size of produced particles. Inhalation therapy has some advantages like the direct delivery of the drug to the intended site of action, the use of a low dose of drug, lower side effects compared to parenteral administration and some disadvantages such as expense, frequency of drug administration and difficulty in determining the precise dose of a medication. Aerosol deployment within the pulmonary system is done under the influence of three main mechanisms of gravitational sedimentation, inertial impaction, Brownian diffusion. Three different types of commercially available inhalation drug delivery which is used in equine include dry powder inhalation, metered-dose inhalers, and nebulizers. Pharmacological agents used in equine inhalation therapy in cludes antimicrobials, glucocorticoids, mucolytic, bronchodilators and etc. In general, according to the points mentioned above, especially the existence of positive benefits, inhalation therapy in equine should be given more attention and prioritized in the treatment of respiratory diseases.