Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Thorax logoLink to Thorax
. 1996 Aug;51(8):810–814. doi: 10.1136/thx.51.8.810

Effect of loratadine, an H1 antihistamine, on induced cough in non-asthmatic patients with chronic cough.

S Tanaka 1, K Hirata 1, N Kurihara 1, J Yoshikawa 1, T Takeda 1
PMCID: PMC472550  PMID: 8795669

Abstract

BACKGROUND: H1 antihistamines have been shown to have an antitussive effect in patients with asthma, postnasal drip, and allergic rhinitis. No study has been performed to determine whether orally administered H1 antihistamines can reduce the number of coughs induced by stimulation of cough receptors in non-asthmatic patients with chronic dry cough. METHODS: The effect of loratadine (10 mg) on the number of coughs induced by ultrasonically nebulised distilled water (UNDW) was examined in 10 patients with nasal disease and in seven patients with unexplained chronic cough using a randomised, double blind crossover method. Eleven normal volunteers were also studied. Each subject inhaled UNDW for one minute, and the numbers of coughs during the one minute inhalation and the 30 seconds following it were counted. RESULTS: There was no difference in the results of pulmonary function tests performed before and one minute after UNDW inhalation for either patients or normal subjects. There was also no significant difference between the results of pulmonary function tests before or after oral administration of loratadine. Loratadine significantly reduced the number of coughs in patients with nasal disease and in those with unexplained chronic cough, but not in normal subjects. CONCLUSIONS: The H1 antihistamine loratadine reduces cough induced by UNDW. The release of histamine may contribute to the chronic cough in patients with unexplained chronic cough or nasal disease.

Full text

PDF
810

Images in this article

813Image
on p.813
813Image
on p.813

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Anderson S. D., Schoeffel R. E., Finney M. Evaluation of ultrasonically nebulised solutions for provocation testing in patients with asthma. Thorax. 1983 Apr;38(4):284–291. doi: 10.1136/thx.38.4.284. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Antoniou D., Pavlakou G., Rees P. J. The effects of osmotic challenge on bronchial responsiveness to methacholine in non-asthmatic subjects. Eur Respir J. 1990 Nov;3(10):1117–1121. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Azevedo M., da Costa J. T., Fontes P., da Silva J. P., Araujo O. Effect of terfenadine and ipratropium bromide on ultrasonically nebulized distilled water-induced asthma. J Int Med Res. 1990 Jan-Feb;18(1):37–49. doi: 10.1177/030006059001800106. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Bascom R., Bleecker E. R. Bronchoconstriction induced by distilled water. Sensitivity in asthmatics and relationship to exercise-induced bronchospasm. Am Rev Respir Dis. 1986 Aug;134(2):248–253. doi: 10.1164/arrd.1986.134.2.248. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Bland J. M., Altman D. G. Statistical methods for assessing agreement between two methods of clinical measurement. Lancet. 1986 Feb 8;1(8476):307–310. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Boulet L. P., Milot J., Boutet M., St Georges F., Laviolette M. Airway inflammation in nonasthmatic subjects with chronic cough. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 1994 Feb;149(2 Pt 1):482–489. doi: 10.1164/ajrccm.149.2.8306050. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Campbell A. M., Bousquet J. Anti-allergic activity of H1 blockers. Int Arch Allergy Immunol. 1993;101(3):308–310. doi: 10.1159/000236468. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Ciprandi G., Buscaglia S., Catrullo A., Marchesi E., Bianchi B., Canonica G. W. Loratadine in the treatment of cough associated with allergic rhinoconjunctivitis. Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol. 1995 Aug;75(2):115–120. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Clissold S. P., Sorkin E. M., Goa K. L. Loratadine. A preliminary review of its pharmacodynamic properties and therapeutic efficacy. Drugs. 1989 Jan;37(1):42–57. doi: 10.2165/00003495-198937010-00003. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Eschenbacher W. L., Boushey H. A., Sheppard D. Alteration in osmolarity of inhaled aerosols cause bronchoconstriction and cough, but absence of a permeant anion causes cough alone. Am Rev Respir Dis. 1984 Feb;129(2):211–215. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Fabbri L. M., Mapp C. E., Hendrick D. J. Comparison of ultrasonically nebulized distilled water and hyperventilation with cold air in asthma. Ann Allergy. 1984 Aug;53(2):172–177. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Fuller R. W., Collier J. G. Sodium cromoglycate and atropine block the fall in FEV1 but not the cough induced by hypotonic mist. Thorax. 1984 Oct;39(10):766–770. doi: 10.1136/thx.39.10.766. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Gibson P. G., Dolovich J., Denburg J., Ramsdale E. H., Hargreave F. E. Chronic cough: eosinophilic bronchitis without asthma. Lancet. 1989 Jun 17;1(8651):1346–1348. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(89)92801-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Irwin R. S., Corrao W. M., Pratter M. R. Chronic persistent cough in the adult: the spectrum and frequency of causes and successful outcome of specific therapy. Am Rev Respir Dis. 1981 Apr;123(4 Pt 1):413–417. doi: 10.1164/arrd.1981.123.4.413. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Karlsson J. A., Sant'Ambrogio G., Widdicombe J. Afferent neural pathways in cough and reflex bronchoconstriction. J Appl Physiol (1985) 1988 Sep;65(3):1007–1023. doi: 10.1152/jappl.1988.65.3.1007. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Lowry R., Higenbottam T., Johnson T., Godden D. Inhibition of artificially induced cough in man by bronchodilators. Br J Clin Pharmacol. 1987 Oct;24(4):503–510. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2125.1987.tb03204.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Lowry R., Wood A., Higenbottam T. The effect of anticholinergic bronchodilator therapy on cough during upper respiratory tract infections. Br J Clin Pharmacol. 1994 Feb;37(2):187–191. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2125.1994.tb04259.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Lowry R., Wood A., Johnson T., Higenbottam T. Antitussive properties of inhaled bronchodilators on induced cough. Chest. 1988 Jun;93(6):1186–1189. doi: 10.1378/chest.93.6.1186. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Makino S., Kobayashi S., Miyamoto T., Shida T., Takahashi S. [Standard for allergen bronchial provocation tests in asthma and hypersensitivity pneumonitis]. Arerugi. 1982 Oct;31(10):1074–1076. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Mauser P. J., Kreutner W., Egan R. W., Chapman R. W. Selective inhibition of peripheral histamine responses by loratadine and terfenadine. Eur J Pharmacol. 1990 Jun 21;182(1):125–129. doi: 10.1016/0014-2999(90)90500-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Naclerio R. M., Kagey-Sobotka A., Lichtenstein L. M., Freidhoff L., Proud D. Terfenadine, an H1 antihistamine, inhibits histamine release in vivo in the human. Am Rev Respir Dis. 1990 Jul;142(1):167–171. doi: 10.1164/ajrccm/142.1.167. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. O'Connell F., Thomas V. E., Pride N. B., Fuller R. W. Capsaicin cough sensitivity decreases with successful treatment of chronic cough. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 1994 Aug;150(2):374–380. doi: 10.1164/ajrccm.150.2.8049818. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Pratter M. R., Bartter T., Akers S., DuBois J. An algorithmic approach to chronic cough. Ann Intern Med. 1993 Nov 15;119(10):977–983. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-119-10-199311150-00003. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Rodwell L. T., Anderson S. D., Seale J. P. Inhaled clemastine, an H1 antihistamine inhibits airway narrowing caused by aerosols of non-isotonic saline. Eur Respir J. 1991 Oct;4(9):1126–1134. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Roman I. J., Danzig M. R. Loratadine. A review of recent findings in pharmacology, pharmacokinetics, efficacy, and safety, with a look at its use in combination with pseudoephedrine. Clin Rev Allergy. 1993 Spring;11(1):89–110. doi: 10.1007/BF02802295. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Sheppard D., Rizk N. W., Boushey H. A., Bethel R. A. Mechanism of cough and bronchoconstriction induced by distilled water aerosol. Am Rev Respir Dis. 1983 Jun;127(6):691–694. doi: 10.1164/arrd.1983.127.6.691. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Stone R. A., Barnes P. J., Chung K. F. Effect of frusemide on cough responses to chloride-deficient solution in normal and mild asthmatic subjects. Eur Respir J. 1993 Jun;6(6):862–867. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. de Weck A. L., Derer T., Bischoff S. C., Takafuji S. The effect of terfenadine on the immediate and late-phase reactions mediated by immunoglobulin E. Int Arch Allergy Immunol. 1993;101(3):326–332. doi: 10.1159/000236472. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Thorax are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES