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New Research - January 2009Grass pollen sublingual immunotherapy is effective versus placebo over three years of treatment with a carryover effect in a fourth year without treatmentThis group of German investigators evaluated the efficacy and safety of sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT) over a four year period. Three treatment years were followed by a year without treatment. Patients aged 7.9 to 64.7 years with grass pollen allergy were treated with an "ultra-rush titration" with increasing doses of a 5 grass pollen mixture every 20 minutes at the start of the pollen season. This dosing was followed by daily administration of SLIT during each day of the grass pollen season. A baseline year with no SLIT was followed by three consecutive treatment seasons, and then a follow-up season with no treatment. Medication use, symptoms, adverse events, and grass specific IgE and IgG4 were measured. Two hundred thirteen randomized patients were entered and data were evaluated for 183 of these. The treated group fared better than the placebo group in regards to combined symptom/medication score for all three treatment seasons, and there was a carryover improvement in the fourth (non-treatment) season as well. The authors concluded that seasonal grass pollen SLIT is effective from the first treatment season onward with a carryover effect seen for one year after cessation of therapy. There was no significant adverse event. ReferenceOtt H, et al. Efficacy of grass pollen sublingual immunotherapy for three consecutive seasons and after cessation of treatment: The ECRIT Study. Allergy 2009; 64:179-186. |
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