Pharmacological approaches.

Treatment of moderate to severe atopic disease may require multidrug regimens, reflecting the multifaceted nature of allergic inflammation. Furthermore, despite the central role of Th2 inflammation in allergic rhinitis (15), asthma (14), and atopic dermatitis (11), specific mediator antagonists may not be uniformly successful in the treatment of all atopic disorders. For example, antihistamines are very effective treatment for the symptoms of allergic rhinitis (41), but have minimal benefit in the treatment of asthma (42-44).

Effects of allergic inflammation of the nasal mucosa on the severity of rhinovirus 16 cold.

Background: Despite the strong association of asthma exacerbations with rhinovirus (RV) infection, inoculation of asthmatic subjects with RV only causes small changes in lower airway function, suggesting that RV infection is not itself sufficient to provoke asthma exacerbations.

Objective: Our purpose was to test whether allergic inflammation increases the airway response to RV infection.

Methods: We compared the severity of RV type 16-induced colds in 2 groups of 10 subjects with allergic rhinitis.

Effect of clarithromycin on experimental rhinovirus-16 colds: a randomized, double-blind, controlled trial.

Purpose: Macrolide antibiotics are frequently prescribed to patients with symptoms of a common cold. Despite their lack of proven antiviral activity, macrolide antibiotics may have anti-inflammatory actions, such as inhibition of mucus secretion and production of interleukins 6 and 8 by epithelial cells. Because the symptoms of rhinovirus colds are attributed to the inflammatory response to infection, we studied the effects of treatment with clarithromycin on the symptomatic and inflammatory response to nasal inoculation with rhinovirus.

A multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of high-dose intravenous immunoglobulin for oral corticosteroid-dependent asthma.

To determine the efficacy of high doses of intravenous gammaglobulin (IVIG) for the treatment of severe, steroid-dependent asthma in patients between 6 and 68 years of age, a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled multicenter clinical trial was conducted in private and university hospitals in the United States. Patients were randomized to one of three treatment arms: 2 g IVIG/kg/month (16 patients); 1 g IVIG/kg/month (9 patients); or 2 g iv albumin (placebo)/kg/month (15 patients). The treatment consisted of seven monthly infusions followed by a posttreatment observation period.