Environmentally Friendly Aerosol Improves Nasal Symptoms

A new steroid nasal aerosol can provide significant relief from seasonal and perennial allergic rhinitis without the ozone-depleting effects of now-banned chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) propellants, according to a new study.

Researchers at Georgia Allergy and Respiratory (Atlanta, USA) conducted a double-blind study involving 713 pediatric patients who had a history of two years or more of seasonal allergic rhinitis. The mean age was nine and there were more boys in the study; most were white. The patients were randomized to receive beclomethasone dipropionate --an odorless, tasteless, and dripless formulation that uses hydrofluoroalkane as the propellant--in doses of 80 µg, 160 µg, or placebo once daily.

The study showed that the results for the 80-µg dosage were similar to the higher dose, with a decrease of 1.92 points on symptom scores compared with a decrease of 1.21 points for placebo. The differences compared with placebo for the high- and low-dose groups were −0.76 and −0.71 points, respectively, meeting the cutoff point of −0.55, which was deemed to be clinically significant. Epistaxis was the most common adverse event, occurring in 3.7% of the high-dose group, 1.7% of the low-dose group, and 4.3% of the placebo group. However, no patients discontinued treatment because of the nosebleeds.

A second study, conducted by researchers at Allergy and Asthma Associates of Southern California (Mission Viejo, USA) showed that over the course of six weeks, 466 patients (mean age 37) with perennial allergic rhinitis treated with 320 µg per day beclomethasone had a decrease of 3.04 points on the physician-assessed nasal score compared with a decrease of 1.82 points for those given placebo. Both studies were presented at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology, held during March 2012 in Orlando (FL, USA).

“The drug was very safe; I tell my patients it's safer than driving a car,” said lead author of the second study Warner Carr, MD. “This new formulation of beclomethasone will be a well-tolerated and effective new option for the treatment of seasonal and perennial allergic rhinitis.”

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Allergy and Asthma Associates of Southern California