Twenty years of sodium cromoglycate treatment: a short review

Sodium cromoglycate (Intal) was first synthesized from khellin, a naturally occurring plant chromone, by Roger Altounyan and his colleagues in 1965. It was introduced as a therapeutic agent in 1968 and marked a new era in the management of asthma. Numerous studies on the use of sodium cromoglycate in the treatment of asthma have since been published. Both short-term and long-term controlled studies indicate unequivocally that sodium cromoglycate is of significant clinical benefit in 60-70% of asthmatic children and adults. Clinical experience during the last 20 years has indicated that it should be the drug of first choice in the short-term treatment of asthma provoked by irritants, allergens and exercise, as well as in chronic asthma. Side effects are usually minor and sodium cromoglycate is the safest therapeutic agent in current use for the treatment of asthma.