Abstract | BACKGROUND: This study evaluates the safety and efficacy of specific sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT) against grass pollen allergens in patients >60 years of age with seasonal allergic rhinitis (SAR) and/or asthma. This study sought to assess nasal symptoms during the grass pollen season, reduce medication use, and monitor adverse reactions during immunotherapy. METHODS: Seventy-eight 60- to 70-year-old patients with SAR and a confirmed grass pollen allergy according to skin-prick tests, nasal provocation, and measurement of serum IgE were included in the study. The patients were individually randomized to the active or placebo groups using a double-blind method. A total of 41 subjects in the SLIT group (5 grass pollen mixture) and 37 subjects in the placebo group were monitored for 3 years. The patients were required to record each use of an antiallergy medication on a diary card. RESULTS: Thirty-eight patients completed 3 years (preseasonal) of SLIT, and 34 subjects finished the placebo treatment in the same time period. The total nasal symptom score decreased by 64% in the active group and 7% in the placebo group after SLIT. This difference was only significant in the active group (p < 0.05). At the end of therapy, the total medication score of the active group decreased significantly by a maximum of 51% (p < 0.05), whereas the total medication score of the placebo group had an insignificant decrease. None of the study participants had systemic adverse reactions during the study period. CONCLUSIONS: SLIT in elderly patients with a grass pollen allergy generated a significant clinical improvement in the active group compared with the placebo group for grass pollen season. This therapy was well tolerated.
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Authors | Andrzej Bozek, Krzysztof Kolodziejczyk, Barbara Warkocka-Szoltysek, Jerzy Jarzab |
Journal | American journal of rhinology & allergy
(Am J Rhinol Allergy)
2014 Sep-Oct
Vol. 28
Issue 5
Pg. 423-7
ISSN: 1945-8932 [Electronic] United States |
PMID | 25198030
(Publication Type: Journal Article, Randomized Controlled Trial)
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Topics |
- Aged
- Double-Blind Method
- Female
- Humans
- Male
- Middle Aged
- Poaceae
(immunology)
- Pollen
(immunology)
- Rhinitis, Allergic, Seasonal
(therapy)
- Sublingual Immunotherapy
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