Effects of Pidotimod on recurrent respiratory infections in children with Down syndrome: a retrospective Italian study

Background Children with Down syndrome (DS) show a high susceptibility to recurrent infections (RI), caused by immune defects and abnormalities of the airways. Our goal was to investigate the effects of Pidotimod on RI prevention in children with DS, comparing immune and clinical parameters before (T0) and after (T1) the treatment with Pidotimod. Methods The study was conducted at the Down syndrome outpatient Center of Bambino Gesu Children's Hospital, in Rome. We reviewed the medical records of all children with a positive history for RI and who received oral prophylaxis of Pidotimod from September 2016 to February 2017. Results Thirty-three children met the inclusion criteria (males: 51.5%; average age: 6 years +/- SD: 3). We found a significant decrease in the number of children with upper respiratory infections (82% at T0 vs 24% at T1; p = 0,0001) and with lower respiratory infections (36% at T0 vs 9% at T1; p = 0.003) after treatment with Pidotimod. We also demonstrated a significant decrease in the number of children hospitalized for respiratory infections (18% at T0 vs 3% at T1; p = 0.03). We measured T and B cells in the peripheral blood and B cell function in vitro at T0 and T1. We found that the response to CpG improved at T1. A significant increase of B cell frequency (p = 0.0009), B cell proliferation (p = 0.0278) and IgM secretion (p = 0.0478) were observed in children with DS after treatment. Conclusions Our results provided evidence that Pidotimod may be able to prevent RI in children with Down syndrome.