Effectiveness and Response Predictors of Omalizumab in Treating Patients with Seasonal Allergic Rhinitis: A Real-World Study

Tingting Ma; Hongtian Wang; Xueyan Wang

doi:10.2147/JAA.S288952

Effectiveness and Response Predictors of Omalizumab in Treating Patients with Seasonal Allergic Rhinitis: A Real-World Study

J Asthma Allergy. 2021 Jan 22:14:59-66. doi: 10.2147/JAA.S288952. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Tingting Ma¹, Hongtian Wang², Xueyan Wang¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Allergy, Beijing Shijitan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing Key Laboratory of Bio-Characteristic Profiling for Evaluation of Rational Drug Use, Beijing 100038, People's Republic of China.
² Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Beijing Shijitan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100038, People's Republic of China.

Abstract

Background: Omalizumab has been proven effective and safety in treating seasonal allergic rhinitis (SAR) by several randomized clinical trials in many countries. However, there is lack of clinical reports of Chinese patients with SAR treated by omalizumab.

Objective: In the present real-world-designed study, we aimed to investigate the effectiveness of omalizumab in treating patients with SAR.

Methods: SAR patients administered omalizumab in various dosages were recruited, and follow-up was done. Their quality of life (QOL) and symptoms were assessed by the Rhinoconjunctivitis Quality of Life Questionnaire (RQLQ), Total Nasal Symptoms Score (TNSS), Asthma Control Test (ACT), and clinical outcomes were compared between post- and pre-treatment conditions.

Results: Sixty SAR patients received omalizumab therapy in the study (mean age 35.47±17.02 years, 35 females). Omalizumab treatment significantly improved the quality of life (change in RQLQ overall score: -2.08±1.01, paired t-test p<0.001) and nasal symptoms (change in TNSS: -7.33±2.50, paired t-test p<0.001) of SAR patients. In 21 patients with co-existing asthma, the ACT score significantly increased from 16.10 to 22.57 on average (paired t-test p<0.001), indicating better-controlled asthma. Using a threshold of ≥1 point improvement in RQLQ overall score, 83.3% of patients responded to omalizumab. The responder group had a higher baseline RQLQ score and TNSS (p<0.05), but both responders and non-responders had comparable scores after treatment. Multiple linear regression analysis identified the baseline RQLQ overall score as a predictor of change in the RQLQ score in omalizumab-treated SAR.

Conclusion: Omalizumab is effective and safe in SAR treatment in a real-world setting.

Keywords: nasal symptoms score; omalizumab; quality of life; real world; seasonal allergic rhinitis.

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the National Key Specialty Funding of China granted to XW, Beijing Municipal Administration of Hospitals Clinical Medicine Development of Special Funding Support (No. ZYLX201826), Open Research Funding of Beijing Key Laboratory of Bio-characteristic Profiling for Evaluation of Rational Drug Use (No. 2019-KF11) and Science and Technology Research and Development Project of China National Railway Group Co. (No. J2019Z603) granted to TM.