MODE OF ACTION OF A TOPICAL STEROID ON IMMEDIATE PHASE REACTION AFTER ANTIGEN CHALLENGE AND NONSPECIFIC NASAL HYPERREACTIVITY IN NASAL ALLERGY

This study compared the effects of 2-week administration of a topical steroid (fluticasone propionate [FP] 100 mu g twice daily) with placebo in 28 patients with perennial nasal allergy who were allergic to house dust and mites in a double-blind randomized study. The number of inflammatory cells and decidual epithelial cells and concentrations of tryptase and eosinophil cationic protein in nasal lavages, and reactivity of the nasal mucose to histamine and to antigen were investigated. The topical steroid, FP, significantly inhibited all of these assessments. The degree of improvement of nasal reactivity to histamine significantly correlated with the degree of decrease in eosinophil cationic protein levels.