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Phototherapy Eases Allergic Rhinitis Symptoms: Presented at EAACI
By Michael Smith
AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS -- June 16, 2004 -- A light in a dark place eases the symptoms of allergic rhinitis, reported Hungarian researcher Lajos Kemeny, MD.
Presenting his findings at the 23rd Congress of the European Academy of Allergology and Clinical Immunotherapy (EAACI), Dr. Kemeny, of the University of Szeged, in Szeged, Hungary, said that "rhinophototherapy" for allergic rhinitis is a natural extension of the phototherapy now used to treat skin conditions, since many of the same allergic mechanisms are in play.
Dr. Kemeny told a forum on new targets in rhinitis that the first step was to determine which wavelengths would be effective; he and colleagues found that light whose wavelength is between 310 and 650 nanometers inhibits the formation of wheals during a skin prick test. The range includes visible light as well as UVB and UVA, he said.
Forty-nine patients with moderate to severe allergic rhinitis were randomized to either 3 treatments weekly for 3 weeks using the active wavelengths or a placebo treatment using low-density visible light.
The results were evaluated using standard symptom scores, as well as several laboratory markers, such as cytokines and lymphocyte subpopulations in the blood.
According to Dr. Kemeny, there was a significant improvement for the treatment group on most of the symptoms of rhinitis – sneezing, rhinorrhea, and nasal itching. Overall, he said that 83% of the treatment group saw "significant or moderate" improvement, compared with 31.6% of the placebo group.
In the lab, researchers noted fewer eosinophil cells found in nasal lavage samples, indicating a lowered allergic response, as well as increased levels of interleukin-10, associated with lowered inflammation.
The researchers used a commercial machine, built by a Hungarian firm, that is now approved for use throughout Europe, Dr. Kemeny said. More than 2000 people have been treated using this system in Hungary with few side effects, he noted.
The results of the study, he said, indicate that intranasal phototherapy should be added to the arsenal of treatments available for allergic rhinitis, concluded Dr. Kemeny.
[study title: 75 - Intranasal phototherapy inhibitis the clinical symptoms of allergic rhinitis and increases the circulating IL-10+CD4+ T cells in humans]
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