Relationship between eosinophils in nasal discharge and responses to treatment of inhaled glucocorticosteroid in patients with persistent allergic rhinitis / 临床耳鼻咽喉头颈外科杂志

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE@#To evaluate the treatment responses of persistent allergic rhinitis with and without eosinophils (EOS) in nasal discharge to inhaled glucocorticosteroid (CS), and therefore to verify whether low eosinophil level in nasal discharge can predict poor response to treatment with CS.@*METHOD@#Forty-two symptomatic allergic rhinitis patients, who had not received CS therapy in three months preceding the study, were examined before and 2 month, 4 months and 6 months after treatment with CS. At each visit, all patients underwent symptom scoring and physical sign scoring. The level of eosinophil cationic protein (ECP) in the nasal discharge supernatants was measured by radioimmunoassay. The patients were divided into 2 groups according to nasal discharge EOS percentages, an EOS group (EOS > or = 3%) and a non-EOS group (EOS 0.05), but the ECP level did improve (F = 3.78, P < 0.05). The average daily dose of CS was not different between the two groups at any visits.@*CONCLUSION@#In persistent allergic rhinitis with low EOS in nasal discharge, CS therapy for 6 months failed to improve symptoms and physical signs.