Key points are not available for this paper at this time.
It is known that the symptoms of allergic rhinitis can significantly reduce the quality of life of the patient. One of such typical symptoms of allergic rhinitis is nasal obstruction. Nasal obstruction is currently thought to be closely related to the presence and abundance of lipid mediators, such as leukotriene and thromboxane (TX) A2. The novel drug ramatroban, a TXA2 receptor antagonist, which has been developed by Bayer Yakuhin Ltd. (Osaka, Japan), has been demonstrated, in clinical trials, to improve nasal obstruction in the treatment of patients with allergic rhinitis and it has recently become commercially available. In the present study, ramatroban was administered for 28 days to 10 patients who were diagnosed with perennial allergic rhinitis but were untreated. Changes in self-reported symptom scores and in vivo allergic reaction parameters were assessed during three observational periods. From baseline scores, all three symptom scores after 28 days treatment with ramatroban declined clearly in all patients, except for one patient who suffered a cold during the study period and had aggravated rhinorrhea and nasal obstruction as a result. The concentrations of histamine and TXB2 (a metabolite of TXA2) in the nasal fluid induced by antigen challenge after the 28 day treatment period also decreased in most subjects compared with concentrations during the pretreatment period. The symptom scores for nasal obstruction during the pretreatment period were correlated with the concentration of TXB2 in antigen-induced nasal fluid. The present study reconfirmed the clinical efficacy of a post-marketed drug, namely ramatroban, in the treatment of allergic rhinitis. In addition, the results suggest that ramatroban suppressed the secretion of chemical mediators in nasal that are thought to be involved in the allergic reaction in patients with perennial allergic rhinitis.
Ohkubo et al. (Wed,) studied this question.