Preseasonal intranasal immunotherapy in birch-alder allergic rhinitis. A double-blind study.

Abstract

A double-blind, placebo-controlled study was carried out to test the clinical efficacy and safety of local nasal immunotherapy (LNIT) in powder form. Twenty-two patients suffering from allergic rhinitis strictly associated with early spring symptoms, with positive skin prick tests and RAST for birch-alder, all responders to a specific nasal provocation test (NPT), received randomly active or placebo treatment for 4 months. Immunotherapy consisted of administration of a set of capsules containing progressively increasing amounts of birch (Betula pendula) and speckled alder (Alnus incana) allergens in powder form with controlled granulometry. The active (birch-alder) and placebo (lactose) group completed the treatment according to a similar schedule. During the pollen season (March-April), the patients who took the active treatment reported less sneezing and rhinorrhea than the placebo group, on the basis of a symptoms score, and the differences were statistically significant; the need for drugs (terfenadine) was also significantly reduced. These findings agreed well with the results of specific NPT after the treatment; only patients in the active group had a higher threshold dose of nasal specific reactivity to birch-alder allergens than in tests before the LNIT.

• Authors: A M Cirla, N Sforza, G P Roffi, A Alessandrini, R Stanizzi, N Dorigo, E Sala, F Della Torre
• Journal: Allergy (Allergy) Vol. 51 Issue 5 Pg. 299-305 (May 1996) ISSN: 0105-4538 [Print] Denmark
• PMID: 8836333 (Publication Type: Clinical Trial, Journal Article, Randomized Controlled Trial)

Topics

• Administration, Intranasal
• Adolescent
• Adult
• Double-Blind Method
• Drug Administration Schedule
• Female
• Humans
• Immunotherapy (methods)
• Male
• Pollen (immunology)
• Rhinitis, Allergic, Seasonal (therapy)
• Seasons
• Trees (immunology)