EFFICACY AND TOLERABILITY OF LEVOCABASTINE AND AZELASTINE NASAL SPRAYS FOR THE TREATMENT OF ALLERGIC RHINITIS

LEVOCABASTINE and azelastine are currently the only antihistamines ava ilable as nasal sprays for the topical therapy of seasonal allergic rh initis. The present study was undertaken to compare the onset of actio n, efficacy and tolerability of these two agents in a total of 242 pat ients with this condition. This was an international, multicentre, ope n-label, randomized, parallel-group trial with 123 patients treated wi th levocabastine (0.5 mg/ml, two puffs per nostril twice daily) and 11 9 with azelastine (1 mg/ml, one puff per nostril twice daily). Onset o f action was comparable for the two drugs with over 50% of patients hi each group reporting significant symptomatic relief within 30 min of administration of the first dose of study medication. Therapeutic effi cacy was also found to be comparable in the two groups with no statist ically significant intergroup differences reported for any of the para meters evaluated, although assessments of global therapeutic efficacy revealed a trend favouring levocabastine. Levocabastine appeared to be better tolerated than azelastine (p = 0.06), with the incidence of th e most common adverse experiences, application site reactions and tast e disturbances, significantly higher on azelastine than with levocabas tine (5% versus 1%; p = 0.05 and 5% versus 0%; p = 0.01, respectively) . In conclusion, levocabastine nasal spray appears to be at least as e ffective as, but better tolerated than, azelastine nasal spray for the treatment of seasonal allergic rhinitis.