The Clinical Use of Cetirizine in the Treatment of Allergic Rhinitis

Abstract

Background: Cetirizine is among the first second-generation H₁ antihistamines (SGAHs) developed to provide selective H₁ receptor inhibition without central nervous system depression. Objective: The aim of this review is to summarize the amount of data collected over 25 years of clinical use of cetirizine and compare this with data available for other SGAHs in the management of patients with allergic rhinitis (AR). Methods: A comprehensive literature search for publications relating to cetirizine was performed using the Pubmed database, and relevant papers published in English were selected for detailed review. Results: Compared with the majority of other SGAHs, cetirizine was generally shown to have a more favourable pharmacological profile, to be well tolerated, be at least equally or more efficacious in attenuating/inhibiting nasal and ocular symptoms and to improve the quality of life in AR patients. The majority of clinical trials investigating the effect of SGAHs in AR patients further indicated that cetirizine was often employed as the main comparator active drug. Conclusion: Based on the evidence that cetirizine is a commonly employed active comparator drug in AR, it is tempting to suggest that cetirizine may be a suitable benchmark in the development of novel pharmacotherapies for AR.

Evaluation of Drug Use for Respiratory Problems in Depok, Indonesia, Before and After Implementation of the National Formulary

“…The International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood Phase 3 reported that the prevalence rates of allergic rhinitis in Indonesia in children aged 6-7 years and 13-14 years were 3.6% and 6.4%, respectively [9]. Several studies have evaluated the inflammatory properties of cetirizine in children and adults with allergic rhinitis [10].…”

The Effects of Cetirizine on P-glycoprotein Expression and Function In vitro and In situ

“…Oral bioavailability of cetirizine is more than 70% and shows high intestinal absorption in human. 7,24 P-gp activity undoubtedly plays an important role in limiting intestinal permeability of BCS class II-IV P-gp substrates (not for BCS class I compounds). The high Pgp expression levels in the intestine make the moderately absorbed P-gp substrates more susceptible to P-gpmediated efflux.…”

Addition of an oral histamine antagonist to reduce adverse events associated with fumaric acid esters in the treatment of psoriasis: a randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial

“…Secondly, we used a suitable histamine-1 receptor antagonist that has been shown to be well tolerated with favourable pharmacological properties in other patient populations. 18 In addition, the effects of cetirizine have been studied previously in patients with psoriasis. 12,19 A limitation of our study is the relatively small sample size, owing to our prestudy power calculation.…”