Background
Allergic rhinitis (AR) is a chronic inflammatory illness of the upper respiratory tract which has a significant impact on children's quality of life and school learning performance. Platelet activation's role in AR is gaining more attention. Sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT) for AR could alter the immune response to allergens rather than merely treating symptoms. Our work aimed to investigate the role of platelet activation after SLIT in AR Children.
Method
A controlled randomized clinical study had conducted out at the Pediatric Department of Zagazig University, on 30 children with House Dust allergen (HDA). All participants received HDA extract in the form of SLIT for 6 months and symptoms score was recorded. Platelet Factor-4 (PF-4) levels were measured in all subjects before and after-SLIT using an Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay.
Results
Our findings revealed that nasal sneezing (80 %) was the most prevalent AR symptom, with odor (93.3 %) as the most prevalent triggering factor and 60 % having a family history of AR ~ 3.3 times the odds of having the disease than those born to healthy parents. There was a substantial decrease in PF-4 6 months after-SLIT 1.784 ± 0.196 vs to pre-SLIT 2.281 ± 0.177, P < 0.001. A significant positive association (P = 0.020) was seen between the decrease in nasal discharge score and serum PF-4 after-SLIT.
Conclusion
Our results endorse our assumption that following SLIT, platelet activity was significantly decreased. Hence SLIT may be regarded as a potentially viable safe option for the treatment of AR.