Intranasal ipratropium: inhibition of methacholine induced hypersecretion.

The submucous glands of the nose have an abundant innervation from the parasympathetic nervous system, and rhinorrhea, a symptom of perennial rhinitis, is in all probability caused by an increased activity in these nerves. Pharmacological blockade with atropine-like compounds will therefore be a logical method of treatment. Rhinorrhoea was brought about in the laboratory in 15 healthy experimental subjects by the intranasal application of methacholine. The experimental subjects were pretreated with Ipratropium (Atrovent, Boehringer-Ingelheim) or placebo in a double-blind trial and it was found that Atrovent could effectively inhibit the methacholine induced hypersecretion for up to 6 hours, without local or systemic side-effects. The methacholine induced hypersecretion could also be effectively blocked in 10 patients with perennial rhinitis, and an open clinical study demonstrated that Atrovent had an effect on the spontaneous rhinorrhoea of these patients.