Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT) with dermatophagoides farinae drops in patients with allergic rhinitis (AR).
Methods: Two hundred and six patients with AR aged from 4 to 60 years were included in this study. Among them, 123 patients completed more than one year treatment, the number of patients completed one year, one year and a half, two years were 61, 41, 21 cases. Rhinitis symptom scores and medication scores of the three groups before and after treatment were compared. And rhinitis symptom scores and medication scores of patients with one year drug withdrawal after one and two years treatment were aslo compared.
Results: After SLIT one year, one year and a half, two years treatment, the symptoms in these patients were significantly improved compared with before. The symptom scores (x±s) were reduced from 6.00±2.27, 7.39±1.99 and 6.29±2.14 to 2.95±1.82, 3.28±2.58, 2.48±1.99. The differences were statistically significant (t value was 8.19, 10.29, and 5.97, all P<0.01). The proportion of patients without drug treatment of the three group were 68.9%, 73.2% and 80.9%, there was statistical significance before and after treatment in every group (value was 50.391, 43.619, 27.776, all P<0.01). Symptom improvement of sneezing, runny nose, nasal congestion, nasal itching were similar after one year, one year and a half, two years SLIT treatment, the differences were not statistically significant (F values were 1.200, 1.276 and 2.333, all P>0.05). The proportion of patients without drug treatment in the group which stopped medication one year after two year SLIT (76.2%) was higher than group stopped medication one year after one year SLIT (61.3%). There was no statistical significance (χ2=1.263, P>0.05).
Conclusion: The dust mite drops can relieve symptoms after one year treatment, but the proposed two years treatment is important for the consolidation of improved symptoms, especially for the effect of reducing the use of symptomatic medication.