Effects of Histamine 2 Antagonist in the Treatment of Perennial Allergic Rhinitis

Lee, Kyung Chul; Kim, Dae Young; Lee, Jung Woo; Kwon, Kee Hwan; Jin, Sung Min; Lee, Yong Bae

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Clinically, H1 antagonists are beneficial in relieving nasal itching, sneezing, and rhinorrhea in patients with allergic rhinitis. But they have a lesser effect on nasal blockade. Concomitant administration of an H1 antagonist with an H2 antagonist have been reported to improve the symptoms of allergic rhinitis and enhance the wheal suppression in the skin test. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of H2 antagonist in the management of perennial allergic rhinitis.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
60 allergic rhinitis patients with positive skin test was randomly divided by 3 different groups. The groups were H1 antagonist (cetirizine), H2 antagonist (ranitidine), and combination of H1 and H2 antagonist (cetirizine and ranitidine) group. The clinical response, wheal suppression in the skin test, total serum IgE levels, and serum eosinophil count were measured during the clinical trial.
RESULTS
There was a significant relief of nasal symptoms, especially nasal obstruction in the combination of H1 and H2 antagonist administered group (p<0.05). And combined therapy with H1 and H2 antagonist reduced the total serum IgE level and increased wheal suppression in skin test (p<0.05). The change in serum eosinophil count was not observed.
CONCLUSIONS
In this study, concomitant administration of H1 antagonist with H2 antagonist will be helpful in the treatment of perennial allergic rhinitis.