Source: DGNews  |  Posted 9 years ago

By Paula Moyer
Special to DG News

SAN DIEGO, CA -- September 25, 2002 -- Nasal clearance is faster with a preservative-free intranasal corticosteroid than with an intranasal corticosteroid that contains the preservative benzalkonium chloride, according to Dr. Robert M. Naclerio.

He and colleagues were concerned because previous in vitro studies had shown that benzalkonium chloride may have adverse effects on cilia, said Dr. Naclerio, professor and chief of otolaryngology-head and neck surgery at the University of Chicago. Additionally, there have been some reports that the preservative is associated with adverse effects in people with asthma who use corticosteroid inhalers.

In research reported here at the 106th annual meeting of the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Foundation, he and colleagues followed 20 subjects who had allergic rhinitis in an open-label, randomised trial comparison of budesonide (Rhinocort Aqua), which is preservative-free, and mometasone (Nasonex), which contains benzalkonium chloride. AstraZeneca, the manufacturer of Rhinocort, funded the study.

The subjects underwent two weeks of treatment. Before and after the two-week treatment period, they completed the Rhinoconjunctivitis Quality of Life Questionnaire (RQLQ). The investigators measured nasal clearance with radioactive particles that were in the steroid formulations. Nasal clearance is an indirect way of assessing mucociliary transport, Dr. Naclerio said.

After the treatment period, subjects