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

• Published in: Allergy (Copenhagen) Vol. 51; no. 5; p. 299
• Main Authors: Cirla, A M, Sforza, N, Roffi, G P, Alessandrini, A, Stanizzi, R, Dorigo, N, Sala, E, Della Torre, F
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Denmark 01.05.1996
• Subjects: Administration, Intranasal; Adolescent; Adult; Double-Blind Method; Drug Administration Schedule; Female; Humans; Immunotherapy - methods; Male; Pollen - immunology; Rhinitis, Allergic, Seasonal - therapy; Seasons; Trees - immunology
• ISSN: 0105-4538
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1398-9995.1996.tb00089.x

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.