Abstract
Background
The aim of the study is to evaluate the effect of H1 antihistamines on symptoms and pro-inflammatory cytokines plasmatic level in patients with persistent allergic rhinitis (PAR), after 4 weeks treatment, during continuous exposure to allergens.
Methods
79 patients, mean age 30.44 ± 9.90 years, diagnosed with PAR were included in the study, divided into 2 groups: 39 patients were under treatment with Desloratadine 5 mg/day and 40 patients received Levocetirizine 5 mg/day for 4 weeks. The patients were evaluated before and after the treatment, regarding rhinitis symptoms (sneezing, rhinorrhea, nasal congestion, nasal and ocular itching), total symptoms score, type of sensitisation (indoor or outdoor allergens), plasmatic levels of IL-6 and IL-8. The obtained data were analised using SPSS 15 and GraphPad Prism 4 programs, using Wilcoxon Signed Rank and Mann Whitney test, with a significant P values < 0.05.
Results
Both Desloratadine and Levocetirizine reduce total symptoms score (8.35 versus 1.97, P = 0.0001, respectively 8.67 versus 1.97, P = 0.0001), especially nasal congestion in patients with allergic rhinitis (1.76 versus 1.02, P = 0.001 and 1.72 versus 0.87, P = 0.0001). IL-6 and IL-8 have no different plasmatic level in patients with allergic rhinitis compared with the values obtained in healthy volunteers. Levocetirizine reduces plasmatic level of IL-6 (1.19 versus 1.006, P = 0.0097) and IL-8 (8.90 versus 6.90, P = 0.0003) after 4 weeks treatment, while Desloratadine has influence only IL-6 level (1.68 versus 1.36, P = 0.0038). The intergroup analysis revealed no significant difference between these 2 drugs regarding IL-6 (P = 0.36) and IL-8 (P = 0.25).
Conclusions
Both studied H1 antihistamines present anti-inflammatory effect in patients with PAR after 4 weeks treatment.