Efficacy and safety of a once-daily sublingual immunotherapy without escalation regimen in house dust mite-induced allergic rhinitis.

BACKGROUND

The conventional escalation regimen for sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT) in patients with allergic rhinitis has been proven to be safe and successful in reducing allergic symptoms. However, few studies compared the efficacy and safety between a conventional escalation regimen for SLIT and once-daily SLIT. The aim of the present study was to compare the efficacy and safety of once-daily SLIT without escalation (SLITsE) to conventional escalation therapy (SLITwE).

METHODS

This study was a nonrandomized open label observational study. In total, 153 patients suffering from allergic rhinitis symptoms and sensitized to the perennial house dust mite allergens Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus and Dermatophagoides farinae, were enrolled in this study from July 2008 to December 2009. The patients were divided into 2 groups, SLITwE and SLITsE. Each patient was followed with a diary card on which a symptom score, a rescue medication score, and adverse events were recorded.

RESULTS

All of the nasal symptoms, including rhinorrhea, sneezing, nasal obstruction, itching, and olfactory symptoms, defined as a total nasal symptom score, were reduced after 6 months in both groups (p < 0.05). The rescue medication score, defined as the sum of all of the allergy medications used, also decreased in both groups. Adverse events were similar in both groups, and no major adverse events, such as anaphylaxis, were reported.

CONCLUSION

Once-daily SLITsE was well tolerated and showed safe and comparable efficacy compared with a conventional SLITwE regimen.