Efficacy of long-term sublingual-oral immunotherapy in allergic rhinitis.

Aim of the study was to evaluate the clinical efficacy of sublingual-oral immunotherapy in allergic rhinitis induced by various allergens and to demonstrate its effects using objective methods such as skin prick tests and specific IgE analysis. The first 100 patients diagnosed with allergic rhinitis and treated with sublingual-oral immunotherapy took part in the study and were followed for 2 years. Baseline findings were statistically compared with data obtained at the end of the study period. All symptoms including nasal discharge, sneezing, nasal congestion, and itching, as well as all clinical findings, including lower turbinate colour, turbinate congestion, and nasal discharge, observed by the physician, were significantly decreased after sublingual-oral treatment for two years (p < 0.001). A significant reduction in skin test reactivity was found when the initial and the final tests were compared. The difference between before and after treatment levels of specific IgE levels for D. pteronyssinus, D. farinea, and grasses were significant (p < 0.001), but were not significant for cereals (p=679 ns). As far as concerns the correlation between the recovery of clinical findings and age, as well as the correlation between the recovery of clinical findings and sex, neither of these were statistically significant (age: r = -0.076, p = 0.453, sex: r = -0.004, p = 0.97). The efficacy of the treatment, determined by means of symptom evaluations, was higher than expected in our study. A certain effect of this recovery might be due to the placebo effect, but it is supported by the improvement in skin tests and specific IgE levels.