Therapeutic effect of capsaicin nasal treatment in patients with mixed rhinitis unresponsive to intranasal steroids

Allergy. 2018 Jan;73(1):248-250. doi: 10.1111/all.13245. Epub 2017 Aug 24.

Abstract

Literature is convincing regarding the efficacy of capsaicin nasal treatment in idiopathic rhinitis (IR). However, up to 50% of IR patients do not meet the strict inclusion criteria of the trials conducted so far. As a consequence, the efficacy of capsaicin is unknown in a significant number of IR patients that do not meet the strict inclusion/exclusion criteria (J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2014;133:1332, J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2017; [Epub ahead of print]). "Mixed rhinitis" (MR) patients have more than one major etiologic factor involved in the mucosal pathology. We have no idea about the efficacy of capsaicin nasal spray in these patients nor about the time interval to seek a second application. We report here that capsaicin nasal spray is effective in a broader group of IR than the purely selected ones described before, that subjective nasal hyper-reactivity is a good predictor of positive outcome, and that the time interval for seeking a second treatment is likely to be shorter in MR patients than in the strictly selected IR patients.

Keywords: capsaicin treatment; idiopathic rhinitis; mixed rhinitis; nasal hyper-reactivity; nonallergic rhinitis.

MeSH terms

  • Administration, Intranasal
  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Capsaicin / administration & dosage
  • Capsaicin / adverse effects
  • Capsaicin / therapeutic use*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Nasal Mucosa / drug effects*
  • Nasal Mucosa / metabolism
  • Rhinitis / diagnosis*
  • Rhinitis / drug therapy*
  • Steroids / administration & dosage
  • Steroids / adverse effects
  • Steroids / therapeutic use*
  • Treatment Outcome
  • Young Adult

Substances

  • Steroids
  • Capsaicin