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Published on: April 14, 2010
High-dose desloratadine decreases wheal volume and improves cold provocation thresholds compared with standard-dose
Frank Siebenhaar1, Franziska Degener, Torsten Zuberbier
1Allergie-Centrum-Charité, Department of Dermatology and Allergy, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Background:
Increased dosing of nonsedating antihistamines is recommended by the current European Academy of Allergology and Clinical Immunology/Global Allergy and Asthma European Network/European Dermatology Forum guidelines on patients with acquired cold urticaria (ACU) who do not respond satisfactorily to the standard dose. Prospective data supporting this recommendation are scant.
Objective:
We sought to assess the effects of 5 and 20 mg of desloratadine and placebo on cold-induced urticarial reactions in patients with ACU.
Methods:
In this prospective, randomized, double-blind, 3-way crossover trial, patients with ACU (n = 30) received placebo, 5 mg of desloratadine, and 20 mg of desloratadine every day each for 7 days separated by 14-day washout periods. At the end of each treatment, patients underwent cold provocation with the TempTest 2.0/2.1 system, and urticarial reactions were assessed by using digital 3-dimensional time-lapse photography and thermography; the critical temperature threshold (CTT) and critical stimulation time threshold (CSTT) were measured. Adverse events (AEs) reported during the study were assessed.
Results:
Compared with placebo, 7 days of desloratadine at 5 and 20 mg/d significantly reduced the volume of cold-induced wheals and areas of hyperthermic skin and improved CTT and CSTT results. Desloratadine at 20 mg/d significantly reduced cold-induced wheal volume and CTT and CSTT values versus desloratadine at 5 mg/d. Desloratadine was well tolerated, with no increased rate of somnolence or other AEs with 20 mg of desloratadine.
Conclusions:
Desloratadine at standard and high doses significantly improved objective signs of ACU provoked by cold exposure. Desloratadine at 4 times the standard dose significantly reduced ACU lesion severity versus 5 mg of desloratadine without an increase in AEs. This study supports current guidelines that increased desloratadine dosing might benefit patients with urticaria who do not respond to standard doses.
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