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Assessment of taste functions in allergic rhinitis patients undergoing allergen-specific immunotherapy

  • Rhinology
  • Published:
European Archives of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Background

We evaluated taste functions of patients with perennial allergic rhinitis (AR) before and after allergen-specific immunotherapy (AIT).

Methods

The study was designed as a prospective clinical study in our tertiary care hospital. Patients (n = 21) who were diagnosed with perennial AR on the basis of physical examination, skin prick test of at least 3* for HDM allergen and treated with AIT were enrolled in this study. A control group (n = 21) was selected from patients who were given intranasal steroids (INS) for perennial AR. Both groups had self-reported hyposmia and subjective loss of the sense of taste before treatment. Taste strips (Burghart, Wedel, Germany) were used for the taste identification scores before and after 6 months treatment.

Results

A total of 42 subjects were included, with a mean age of 24.1 ± 7.9 years (range 15–43 years). Overall, the AIT group showed more of an improvement of taste function, observed in the total average test scores, compared to the INS group (p < 0.05), but no change was detected between the groups before treatment. No difference was found for the bitter taste scores between the study groups (p = 0.053).

Conclusion

Subcutaneous allergen immunotherapy resulted in more of an improvement in taste function than intranasal steroids. Further studies are needed.

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Abbreviations

AR:

Allergic rhinitis

QOL:

Quality of life

OFC:

Orbitofrontal cortex

SCIT:

Subcutaneous immunotherapy

AIT:

Allergen-specific immunotherapy

INS:

Intranasal steroid

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Dr Aytuğ Altundağ for helpful advice concerning the use of the taste strips.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Acıbadem University Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey

    Gülpembe Bozkurt

  2. Lewisham University Hospital, London, UK

    Hassan Ahmed Elhassan

  3. Department of Otorhinolaryngology, School of Medicine, Aydın University, Istanbul, Turkey

    Esra Sözen

  4. Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Sisli Hamidiye Etfal Education and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey

    Pınar Soytaş & Berna Uslu Coşkun

  5. Department of Otolaryngology, Hopa State Hospital, Artvin, Turkey

    Zeynep Nur Erol

  6. Department of Otorhinolaryngology, School of Medicine, Acibadem University, Istanbul, Turkey

    Melih Güven Güvenç

Authors
  1. Gülpembe Bozkurt
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  2. Hassan Ahmed Elhassan
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  3. Esra Sözen
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  4. Pınar Soytaş
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  5. Zeynep Nur Erol
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  6. Melih Güven Güvenç
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  7. Berna Uslu Coşkun
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Contributions

Concept—GB, HAE, ES, BUC; design—GB, HAE, PS, BUC; supervision—HAE, ES; resource—MGG, PS, ZNE; materials—MGG, PS, ZNE; data collection and/or processing—MGG, PS, ZNE; analysis and/or interpretation—GB, HAE, ES; literature search—GB, PS, ZNE, MGG; writing—GB, HAE, ES, BUC; critical reviews—GB, HAE, ES, PS, BUC.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gülpembe Bozkurt.

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All of the authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Bozkurt, G., Elhassan, H.A., Sözen, E. et al. Assessment of taste functions in allergic rhinitis patients undergoing allergen-specific immunotherapy. Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol 276, 439–445 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00405-018-5236-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00405-018-5236-5

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