A PLACEBO-CONTROLLED, DOUBLE-BLIND COMPARISON OF TOPICAL VERSUS SYSTEMIC TRIAMCINOLONE ACETONIDE AQUEOUS NASAL SPRAY IN SEASONAL ALLERGIC RHINITIS

Triamcinolone acetonide (TAA) Aqueous nasal spray administered once da ily has been shown to reduce the symptoms of perennial and seasonal al lergic rhinitis. This multicenter, placebo-controlled, double-blind st udy was designed to determine whether the effects of TAA Aqueous nasal spray are due to topical actions or systemic effects. A total of 297 patients with seasonal allergic rhinitis due to ragweed received eithe r topical TAA Aqueous nasal spray (220 mu g/day), systemic TAA adminis tered orally (275 mu g/day), or placebo once daily for 2 weeks. Effect s on rhinitis symptoms were evaluated from daily patient diaries maint ained throughout the study. Topical TAA Aqueous nasal spray provided g reater (P < 0.05) improvements in all nasal symptoms compared with sys temic TAA and placebo. Improvements in rhinitis symptoms occurred as e arly as the first day of treatment with topical nasal spray. The effec ts of systemic TAA and placebo on nasal symptoms were statistically si milar. All treatments were well tolerated over the 2-week study period . This study demonstrated that the improvements in rhinitis symptoms w ith TAA Aqueous nasal spray are attributable to its topical actions an d not to any systemic effects.