Comparison of subject-reported allergy versus skin test results in a common cold trial.

BACKGROUND: Few studies have examined the relationship between subject-reported allergy and results of allergy skin testing in large unselected or unbiased cohorts. The objective of this study was to compare the results of self-reported allergy via verbal questioning with the results of allergy skin testing by the puncture method in 237 healthy adult subjects enrolled in a common cold study. METHODS: On enrollment, all subjects were verbally asked if they had a history of allergy and then underwent puncture skin testing to 19 relevant aeroallergens, as well as appropriate positive and negative controls. A skin test was considered positive if its wheal diameter was at least 3 mm larger than that obtained with the negative control. RESULTS: Forty-eight (20%) subjects reported a history of allergy and 124 (52%) subjects had at least one positive skin test response. A history of allergy was reported in 40 (32%) of the skin test-positive subjects and 8 (7%) of the skin test-negative subjects. At least one positive skin test response was found in 40 (83%) of those subjects reporting a history of allergy and 84 (44%) of those subjects denying a history of allergy. CONCLUSION: These data indicate that there is a relatively poor correlation between self-reported history of allergy and skin test results in subjects enrolled in a common cold study. These results have implications in both clinical practice and research settings.

Inhaled steroids and the risk of adrenal suppression in children.

Corticosteroids are the mainstay of treatment of all asthma severity levels in adults and children. With their widespread use comes a responsibility to monitor, understand, and balance their efficacy and safety. Systemic adverse effects such as adrenal suppression have been clearly associated with the use of oral corticosteroids and to a lesser degree with the use of inhaled corticosteroids (ICS). In clinical trials, adrenal suppression is more evident when ICS are used in long-term therapy and at higher doses. However, monitoring adrenal suppression during short-term therapy and at lower doses is still of value in order to ascertain the lower limit of an inhaled corticosteroid's safety profile. Significant adrenal suppression at conventional ICS doses appears to be rare in clinical practice. When evaluating the effect of ICS on the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal-axis (HPA-axis), one must consider sources of variability both within and among trials including test sensitivity, systemic bioavailability, degree of airway obstruction, and delivery devices. All of these factors have the potential to effect the level of adrenal suppression detected and must be considered when interpreting HPA-axis test results in research or practice. This review will discuss adrenal suppression found with common ICS.