Our understanding of the pathophysiology of
allergy has moved to the molecular level, while study of epidemiology and genetics has revealed risks of developing
allergies based on environmental and genetic profiles, and pharmacoeconomic data have enabled accurate measurement of the immense burden of allergic disease. These advances in
allergy research have affected its management, particularly the search for new antiallergy
therapies. New
therapies should intervene in the systemic
allergy inflammatory cascade and provide clinical efficacy that extends to multiple allergic disease states. In addition, these new
therapies should present no additional safety issues, offer improvements over existing
therapies, and have an impact on disease-impaired quality of life. In vitro studies show that
desloratadine, a new, once-daily, nonsedating, selective
histamine H1-receptor antagonist, blocks the systemic
allergy cascade at multiple points.
Desloratadine 5 mg once daily relieves the symptoms of
chronic idiopathic urticaria and of both seasonal (SAR) and
perennial allergic rhinitis. In patients with concomitant
asthma and SAR,
asthma symptoms are relieved and beta2-agonist medication use is decreased by
desloratadine. Unlike many other second-generation
histamine H1-receptor antagonists,
desloratadine provides the added benefit of efficacy against
nasal obstruction in SAR.
Desloratadine improves quality of life by decreasing the impact of allergic symptoms on sleep and on daily activities.