Acta Derm Venereol 2013; 93: 168174

CLINICAL REPORT

Can On-demand Non-sedating Antihistamines Improve Urticaria

Symptoms? A Double-blind, Randomized, Single-dose Study
Karsten Weller1#, Elena Ardelean1#, Elisabeth Scholz1, Peter Martus2, Torsten Zuberbier1 and Marcus Maurer1

Department of Dermatology and Allergy, Allergie-Centrum-Charit, Charit-Universittsmedizin Berlin, Berlin and 2Institute for Medical Biostatistics,
Eberhard Karls University Tbingen, Tbingen, Germany
#
Both authors contributed equally and should be considered as first authors.
1

Non-sedating H1-antihistamines are the recommended

first-line treatment for chronic spontaneous urticaria.
While efficacy studies usually apply continuous daily treat
ment regimens, many patients take their medication on
demand. In this randomized, double-blind trial we tested
whether on-demand H1-antihistamine desloratadine in
standard and higher doses is able to improve the resolution
of existing wheals. Symptoms of 29 patients with chronic
spontaneous urticaria were followed without treatment on
one day and again on another day during the next 3 weeks
after a single dose of either 5 mg or 20 mg desloratadine,
using different objective measures. While the intervention
with both doses of desloratadine was effective in terms
of a reduction in hyperthermic skin area, there was no
improvement in wheal area and wheal volume compared
with no treatment. Wheal numbers were reduced after
treatment with 20 mg, but not 5 mg, desloratadine. In
conclusion, the beneficial effects of non-sedating H1antihistamines given on demand appear to be low. Thus,
a preventive treatment strategy should be preferred in
chronic spontaneous urticaria. Key words: urticaria; antihistamines; clinical trial.
Accepted May 16, 2012; Epub ahead of print Oct 11, 2012
Acta Derm Venereol 2013; 93: 168174.
Marcus Maurer, Department of Dermatology and Allergy,
Allergie-Centrum-Charit, Charit Universittsmedizin
Berlin, Charitplatz 1, DE-10117 Berlin, Germany. E-mail:
[email protected]

Chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) is one of the most

frequent skin disorders. It is characterized by a recurrent
and spontaneous appearance of itchy wheals with or
without angioedema, for 6 weeks or longer (1, 2). CSU
often lasts for years, sometimes even decades, and has a
substantial impact on patients quality of life (35). Urticaria symptoms are mediated mainly by the release of
histamine from mast cells, which causes vasodilatation,
extravasation, and subsequent development of whealand-flare type skin reactions (6). The current guidelines for management of urticaria strongly recommend
non-sedating H1-antihistamines (nsAH) as the first-line
symptomatic treatment for CSU, based on a large body
of high-quality evidence (7).
Acta Derm Venereol 93

CSU is a fluctuating disease and the severity of symptoms can change markedly from day to day. This may
be one of the reasons why, in routine daily practice,
many patients tend to perform on-demand, rather than
continuous, daily, preventive treatment of their symptoms with H1-antihistamines. In allergic rhinitis, several
studies point towards a better efficacy of modern nonsedating antihistamines if given continuously (810).
The only study in CSU examining both treatment approaches was published by Grob and colleagues (11),
who showed that daily treatment with desloratadine
resulted in significantly better quality of life compared
with on-demand therapy. While these studies indicate
that the treatment schedule can generally have a major
impact on the outcome of treatment, the results on the
efficacy of on-demand nsAHs in CSU have not yet
been independently confirmed. In addition, it has not
been studied whether on-demand nsAHs in higher than
standard doses might have a beneficial effect compared
with standard doses. Increasing the nsAH to up to 4
times the standard dose is recommended by the current
guidelines in all patients who cannot achieve symptom
control with standard doses (7).
Desloratadine is a modern nsAH that has been shown
to reduce pruritus and wheals and to improve quality of
life in several studies at the standard 5 mg dose (1217).
In addition, in a study on patients with acquired cold
urticaria, a preventive application of desloratadine at 4
times the standard dose was significantly more effective
in reducing urticaria lesion severity compared with the
standard 5 mg dose, without any increase in adverse
events (18). Other studies also point towards a better
efficacy of continuously applied high-dose nsAHs in
CSU (19, 20).
Most clinical trials rely on patient assessments of
symptoms and quality of life over a period of outpatient
treatment time. Although this is entirely appropriate,
we designed the current clinical study to examine the
efficacy of standard dose desloratadine (5 mg) and
up-dosed desloratadine (20 mg) on existing wheals,
under carefully monitored conditions, using the most
technically reliable, objective measures. The aim of
the study was to determine whether wheals in CSU
can be actively reduced by on-demand treatment with
a modern nsAH in guideline-suggested dosages. This
2013 The Authors. doi: 10.2340/00015555-1434
Journal Compilation 2013 Acta Dermato-Venereologica. ISSN 0001-5555

On-demand antihistamines in chronic urticaria

study simulates the treatment approach used by many

patients: they wait with antihistamine treatment until
wheals appear and then expect the wheals to disappear
more rapidly than without treatment.

53 patients (= 29) were screened

Visit 1
(Screening)

Screening
Phase

19 patients (= 10) were

not randomized

(710 days)

(for reason see figure legend)

Visit 2

(Randomization)

Randomization

34 patients (= 19) were randomized

METHODS

5 patients (= 3) did not

receive study medication

Ethics
This study (clinicaltrials.gov identifier NCT00598611, EudraCT-No: 2006-001431-22) was approved by the Independent
Ethics Committee of Berlin (Ethikkommission des Landes
Berlin) and the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices
(Bundesinstitut fr Arzneimittel und Medizinprodukte, BfArM).
The study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration
of Helsinki, guidelines from the International Conference on
Harmonization (ICH) and Good Clinical Practice (GCP), and
applicable national laws and regulations. All patients provided
written informed consent to participate in the study.
Study setting and subjects
The study was performed at the Allergie-Centrum-Charit, a
tertiary referral centre for allergies and urticaria. Outpatients,
age range 1875 years, were eligible for the study if: (i) they had
moderate to severe CSU according to their clinical history, (ii)
they exhibited spontaneous urticaria lesions at the second visit
for a baseline assessment (as explained below), and (iii) they
had a history of beneficial effect from antihistamine treatment.
Exclusion criteria were: presence of acute urticaria/acute angioedema, intake of corticosteroids or other immunosuppressive
therapy within 14 days prior to the beginning of the study, use
of depot corticosteroids or chronic systemic corticosteroids
within 21 days prior to the beginning of the study, presence
of permanent severe diseases (especially those affecting the
immune system), presence of galactose intolerance, lapp lactase deficiency or glucose galactose malabsorption, history of
adverse reactions including hypersensitivity to desloratadine or
loratadine, and intake of medication that could cause changes
in QT interval (drugs listed on www.qtdrugs.org). In addition,
patients were excluded if they met any criteria from a typical
list of exclusion criteria for pharmacological studies: presence
of a permanent gastrointestinal condition that may influence
oral therapy, history or presence of epilepsy, significant neurological disorders, cerebrovascular attacks or ischaemia, history
or presence of myocardial infarction or cardiac arrhythmia that
requires drug therapy, evidence of severe renal dysfunction,
evidence of significant hepatic disease, presence of active
cancer that requires chemotherapy, presence of alcohol abuse or
drug addiction, participation in any clinical trial within 4 weeks
prior to enrolment, pregnancy or breast-feeding, and existing
or planned placement in an institution after ruling according
to 40 AMG (Arzneimittelgesetz).
The study had a target sample size of 30 patients. This was
considered sufficient to adequately investigate the objectives
of this study, based upon the investigators experience and
previous studies on urticaria. Formally, our study had a power
of 80% to detect effects of size 1.085 (quotient difference of
means and standard deviation).
Study design
This was a randomized, double-blind, parallel group, singledose study. The study-design is shown in Fig. 1. At visit 1,
screening for eligibility was performed, and patients were
requested to stop taking any antihistamines for the duration of
the study, if possible. Rescue medication (cetirizine 10 mg, and

169

3 for medical reasons

or non-compliance
1 for use of corticosteroids,
1 because study drug
exceeded expiry date

Treatment
Phase
(Treatment
possible
during
21 days)

Visit 3

(Single dose
treatment)

13 patients (= 9)
received 5 mg
desloratadine

16 patients (= 7)
received 20 mg
desloratadine

Fig. 1. Study design and disposition of patients. After a screening visit

patients started to document their urticaria symptoms by using the Urticaria
Activity Score (UAS) and a visual analogue scale (VAS). On days 710 of
the screening phase patients were subjected to a standardized examination
of urticaria symptoms for 5 h in case they developed skin lesions (Visit 2).
All patients who completed this assessment successfully were randomized.
Subsequently, at another day during any of the following 21 days, the study
patients received a single-dose treatment with the study drug (desloratadine
5 mg or 20 mg) given that they again developed urticaria symptoms, and
were subjected to the same standardized examination of symptoms for 5 h as
before (Visit 3). The study drug was administered immediately after the first
measurement of symptoms at Visit 3. Reasons for not randomizing screened
patients were non-occurring symptoms during days 710 of the screening
phase (13 patients), non-compliance regarding study procedures (3 patients),
elevated liver enzymes (2 patients), intake of steroids after screening (1
patient) and withdrawal of written informed consent (1 patient). One of the
patients showing non-compliance also did not develop any symptoms during
days 710 of the screening period.

additional clemastine 1 mg if required) was allowed for severe

symptoms, but its use had to be documented by the patients and
was reviewed. During the ensuing wash-out phase of 710 days,
patients documented their symptoms with the 7 day Urticaria
Activity Score (UAS7) and a visual analogue scale (VAS). The
UAS7 quantifies wheals (03 points) and itching (03 points),
and has been previously validated (21). Accordingly, the
minimum and maximum value of the 7-day cumulative score is
0 and 42, respectively (Table I). The VAS assesses the severity
of urticaria symptoms on a 10-cm unmarked line, with 0=no
discomfort and 10=maximal discomfort.
Visit 2 took place 7 days after visit 1, unless the patient
showed no spontaneous urticaria lesions or had used rescue
medication within the past 48 h, in which cases visit 2 could
be rescheduled for up to 10 days after visit 1. During visit 2,
all outcome measures (described below) were assessed over
5 h, as the no treatment control condition. Patients were
then randomized (sequentially numbered) in a double-blind
fashion, according to a computer-generated randomization
scheme prepared by the Institute for Biostatistics and Clinical
Epidemiology (Charit Berlin).
Visit 3 could take place anytime 121 days after visit 2, on condition that the participating patients exhibited spontaneous urticaria
lesions on that day and had not used rescue medicine within the
past 48 h. At visit 3, patients received the treatment drug (described
below) according to their double-blind randomized assignment.
All outcome measures were again assessed over 5 h.
Treatments
Patients received a single-dose treatment of desloratadine
immediately after a first measurement of urticaria symptoms.
Acta Derm Venereol 93

170

K. Weller et al.

Table I. Patient characteristics

Group A
Group B
(5 mg desloratadine) (20 mg desloratadine)

Patients (n)
Age, years, meanSD
(range, median)
Gender ratio (F:M)
Body weight, kg, meanSD
(range, median)
UAS7a, meanSD
(range, median)
VAS valueb, meanSD
(range, median)

13
43.512.9
(2165, 42)
9:4
77.220.4
(55133, 70)
22.511.7
(140, 24)
4.12.8
(0.58.4, 2.7)

16
41.711.3
(2458, 42)
7:9
79.69.8
(6295, 79)
19.69.0
(434, 18)
3.61.6
(0.66.5, 3.7)

The UAS7 is a validated instrument for measuring urticaria activity and

represents the 7 day cumulative score of the Urticaria Activity Score (UAS).
It quantifies wheals (03 points) and itching (03 points). Accordingly, the
minimum and maximum value of the 7 day cumulative score is 0 and 42,
respectively.
b
The visual analogue scale (VAS) assesses the severity of urticaria symptoms
on a 10-cm unmarked line, where 0=no discomfort and 10=maximal
discomfort.
a

The standard recommended dose of desloratadine is 5 mg. All

patients received 4 identical pills out of sequentially numbered
(randomization number) medication containers. Group A received 15 mg desloratadine and 3 placebo; group B received
45 mg desloratadine. The placebo tablets and 5 mg desloratadine tablets looked identical; the identity of the tablets could
be determined only through the randomization list.
Outcome measures
All outcome variables were measured at visits 2 and 3, once
per hour for 5 h. At visit 3, the first of these 5 hourly measurements was made just before the patient took the study treatment
medications. The location of the body area measured depended
on where lesions were occurring spontaneously in that patient
during that visit. All outcome measures were performed in this
body area.
The primary outcome measure was the area size of wheals
(hyperthermic skin area) assessed by thermographic imaging.
This method has been used in previous dermatology studies
on antihistamines (22, 23). The area of all visible wheals was
summed in the whole region of the body being assessed.
Secondary outcome measures were the area size of wheals
as assessed by digital time-lapse photography, the number of
wheals, and the wheal volume of selected wheals. The area
of all visible wheals on digital photographs was summed in
the whole region of the body being assessed. The number of
wheals was assessed by counting all visible wheals in the whole
region of the body being assessed. The volume of a selected
wheal in each patient was measured by 3D imaging (PRIMOS;
GFM; Teltow, Germany), as previously explained in detail and
validated (24). This volume measure was performed on only
one selected wheal (in the region of the body being assessed)
for each patient at each visit. Prerequisites for the selection of
wheals were: (i) that they had to have a classical morphological
appearance; and (ii) that their size fitted into the receptive field
of the imaging device (3040 mm). Usually, wheals with a
diameter of 13 cm were selected.
For each outcome variable, the values after 5 h (t=5 h) were
computed as a percentage of the values at the beginning of the
measurement (t=0 h). These values mirror the spontaneous
course without treatment (no treatment) or the treatment effect
after 5 h. In addition, for each outcome variable, the measurements made each hour for 5 h were plotted and connected by
Acta Derm Venereol 93

a curve. The area under the curve (AUC) was then calculated,
and this AUC was used as further data for that patient for that
outcome variable. The AUC measurements summarize the
therapeutic effect during the entire 5 h course of the treatment.
All patients and clinical staff, for example study nurses and
study physicians involved in the study, were blinded until the
end of the trial (until all analyses of the outcome measures were
completed and all data was entered in the study data bank).
Statistical analysis
Descriptive statistics used means, medians, standard deviations
and ranges. Comparisons between visit 2 (no treatment) and
visit 3 (treatment) were performed separately for each study arm
using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test. Furthermore, the 2 treatment arms (desloratadine 5 mg and 20 mg) were compared with
each other for each outcome variable at visit 3 using the Mann
Whitney U test. The level of significance was 0.05 (2-sided).
Commercially available software (SPSS for Windows, release
18) was used. The box plots show all data available for the
indicated groups. Since data from all outcome measures were
not available for no treatment and treatment in every patient,
the number of patients included in the statistical comparisons
may be slightly lower compared with those shown in the box
plots (descriptive statistics).

RESULTS
Subjects and disease severity
A total of 53 patients was screened, 34 were eligible
and randomized, and 29 received treatment in the
study (Fig. 1) between September 2007 and August
2009. The median (range) age was 42 years (age range
2165 years). The severity of CSU was moderate to
severe in most participants, but broad ranging. The
median (range) UAS7 score was 21 (140). The median
(range) VAS score was 3.6 (18), as shown in Table
I. Rescue medication was used by 7 patients in group
A (44 tablets) and 8 patients in group B (18 tablets).
Since all rescue medication was used before the patients
ever received the study medication (desloratadine), the
amount of rescue medication only reflects the baseline
condition of the patients, and does not reflect the efficacy or inefficacy of desloratadine in any way.
Primary outcome
The primary efficacy parameter of the study was the
assessment of the reduction in size of spontaneous urticaria lesions by thermography (hyperthermic skin area)
before and during treatment with study medication.
Both 5 mg and 20 mg of desloratadine led to reduced
total hyperthermic skin area 5 h after intake in relation
to 0 h (baseline) (Fig. 2A). Among the patients in group
A, the total hyperthermic skin area after 5 h was substantially reduced after 5 mg desloratadine treatment
(median: 15.7%, mean: 25.4% at 5 h) compared with no
treatment (median: 98.2%, mean: 240.2% at 5 h), and
statistically this difference was significant (p=0.036).
Among the patients in group B, the total hyperthermic

On-demand antihistamines in chronic urticaria

B

Wheal area 5 h after treatment with DL

or no treatment (% of baseline)

Hyperthermic skin area 5 h after treatment

with DL or no treatment (% of baseline)

171

No treatment

5 mg DL

Group A

No treatment

20 mg DL

Group B

No treatment

Group A

5 mg DL

No treatment

20 mg DL

Group B

Fig. 2. Wheal area assessment in the 2 study groups. Box and whisker plots show the effect of desloratadine (DL) 5 mg, DL 20 mg and no treatment on wheal
area at t=5 h (in percentage of the wheal area at t=0 h in the same measurement). (A) Planimetric analysis of thermographic imaging. (B) Photographic
imaging. The comparisons between wheal area at t=5 h and wheal area at t=0 h in the same measurement are indicated by p-value<0.05 and p-value<0.005
(paired analysis). All other comparisons are indicated by *p-value <0.05. No significant differences (n.s.) were found between treatments. Circles within
the figures represent outliers. Extreme values of single patients not shown in the figures are: (A): Group A (no treatment): 1,354% and 358% and Group B
(no treatment): 342%; (B): Group A (no treatment): 764% and 628%. Patient numbers are for (A): Group A (no treatment) n=9, Group A (5 mg DL) n=12,
Group B (no treatment) n=14, Group B (20 mg DL) n=12. Patient numbers are for (B): Group A (no treatment) n=12, Group A (5 mg DL) n=11, Group B
(no treatment) n=16, Group B (20 mg DL) n=15.

skin area was also markedly reduced 5 h after application of 20 mg desloratadine (median: 10.1%, mean:
24.8% at 5 h) compared with no treatment (median:
29.4%, mean: 58.4% at 5 h), but this difference just
failed to reach significance (p=0.051). It is likely that
the contrasting outcome of these 2 comparisons occurred because the median total hyperthermic skin area of
the patients in group A did not change during no treatment (visit 2), whereas the median total hyperthermic
skin area of the patients in group B decreased (98.2%
vs. 29.4%). A comparison of the reduction in the total
hyperthermic skin area after 5 h in relation to baseline
during active treatment with 5 mg desloratadine vs.
treatment with 20 mg was neither clinically meaningful
nor statistically significant (p=0.63). A comparison of
the AUC between groups A and B as well as between
treatment and no treatment in each group showed similar results (data not shown).
Secondary outcomes
Additional parameters of efficacy were the assessment of the reduction in size of spontaneous urticaria
lesions by planimetric analysis of digital time-lapse
photography, volumetric analysis of selected wheals,
and the evaluation of wheal numbers. Regarding wheal
area measured by planimetric analysis of digital photo
graphs, the reduction in the total wheal size was less
pronounced compared with the thermographic assessment (Fig. 2B). Among the patients in group A and B,
the total wheal area after 5 h seemed more reduced after

5 mg and 20 mg desloratadine (median: 50.6%, mean:

69.8%, and median: 40.3%, mean: 66.4%) than during
no treatment (median: 77.5%, mean: 170.0%, and
median: 76.1%, mean: 110.1%), but statistically, this
difference was not significant (p=0.52 and p=0.27). A
comparison of the reduction in the median total wheal
area after 5 h in relation to baseline during treatment
with 5 mg desloratadine vs. treatment with 20 mg was
neither clinically meaningful nor statistically significant. A comparison of the AUC between group A and
B as well as between treatment and no treatment in
each group showed similar results (data not shown).
Regarding wheal volume, neither 5 mg desloratadine
nor 20 mg desloratadine was any better than no treatment, and there was no difference between 5 mg and
20 mg (Fig. 3). It is important to keep in mind that the
primary and secondary outcome of wheal area referred
to the total area of wheals within a defined body region
for the former; whereas wheal volume referred to the
measurement of only one selected wheal.
Regarding the number of wheals, both 5 mg and
20 mg of desloratadine led to a reduction in the total
wheal numbers 5 h after intake compared with 0 h
(Fig. 4). Among the patients in group A, the total wheal
number after 5 h seemed higher after treatment with 5
mg desloratadine (median: 26.7%, mean: 50.3% at 5
h) compared to no treatment (median: 10.0%, mean:
25.3% at 5 h), but statistically, this difference was not
significant (p=0.10). Among the patients in group
B, the total wheal number after 5 h was significantly
lower (p<0.05) after active treatment with 20 mg desActa Derm Venereol 93

K. Weller et al.

Wheal number 5 h after treatment with

DL or no treatment (% of baseline)

Wheal volume 5 h after treatment with

DLor no treatment (% of baseline)

172

No treatment
5 mg DL
Group A

No treatment
20 mg DL
Group B

Fig. 3. Assessment of wheal volume between the 2 study groups by volumetric

imaging. Box and whisker plots show the effect of desloratadine (DL) 5 mg,
DL 20 mg and no treatment on one single wheal at t=5 h (in percentage of
the wheal volume at t=0 h in the same measurement). The comparisons
between the wheal volume at t=5 h and t=0 h in the same measurement are
indicated by p-value <0.05 (paired analysis). No significant differences (n.s.)
were found between the treatments or between intervention with DL and no
treatment. Circles within the figures represent outliers. Extreme values of
single patients not shown in the figure are: Group A (5 mg DL): 257% and
Group B (20 mg DL): 375%. Patient numbers are: Group A (no treatment)
n=10, Group A (5 mg DL) n=12, Group B (no treatment) n=15, Group B
(20 mg DL) n=16.

loratadine (median: 0.0%, mean: 30.0% at 5 h) than

for no treatment (median: 100.0%, mean: 85.2% at 5
h). The direct comparison of treatment with 5 mg vs.
20 mg desloratadine on the number of wheals after 5 h
failed to demonstrate significant differences (p=0.40).
In contrast, a comparison of the reduction in the total
wheal number after 5 h during treatment with 5 mg
desloratadine minus no treatment vs. treatment with 20
mg minus no treatment showed significant differences
(p<0.01). The relation between the AUC between group
A and B as well as between treatment and no treatment
in each group showed similar results (data not shown).
Safety
No adverse events were observed or reported after
intake of the study drug during this study.
DISCUSSION
nsAHs at standard dose have been recommended by
the recent guidelines as first-line treatment for CSU
(7). They provide good relief of symptoms in less
than half of all patients (25), while the others obtain
Acta Derm Venereol 93

No treatment
5 mg DL
Group A

No treatment
20 mg DL
Group B

Fig. 4. Analysis of wheal number for the 2 study groups. Wheal number
was measured macroscopically by counting the number of wheals in the
defined area. Box and whisker plots show the effect of desloratadine (DL)
5 mg, DL 20 mg and no treatment on wheal number at t=5 h (in percentage
of the wheal number at t=0 h in the same measurement). The comparisons
between wheal number at t=5 h and t=0 h are indicated by p-value <0.05
and p-value <0.005 (paired analysis). The differences between treatments
5 mg no treatment vs. 20 mg no treatment is indicated by p-value <0.01
(unpaired analysis). All other comparisons are indicated by *p-value <0.05
or n.s. (not significant). Extreme values of single patients not shown in the
figure are: Group B (no treatment): 200% and 179%. Patient numbers are:
Group A (no treatment) n=10, Group A (5 mg DL) n=12, Group B (no
treatment) n=16, Group B (20 mg DL) n=15.

inadequate or no response from this therapy. For these

patients, the guidelines recommend increasing the dosage, up to 4 times the standard dose, as second-line
treatment. While clinical trials examining the efficacy
of H1-antihistamines usually apply continuous, daily
treatment regimens, the situation in the real-life outpatient setting is different. Patients often tend to use their
medication only in case symptoms appear rather than
on a preventive basis. While, from a pharmacological
perspective, a continuous, daily treatment schedule
with H1-antihistamines can be expected to yield better efficacy due to their mode of action as an inverse
agonist at the histamine receptor, there is, as yet, only
limited evidence from clinical studies to support this
assumption.
The current study was designed to determine whether
desloratadine is objectively efficacious during ondemand application in CSU. In addition, it was tested,
whether up-dosing in this setting provides additional
benefit. Interestingly, only the results on the main outcome variable of wheal area measured by thermography
(hyperthermic skin area) suggest that both doses of desloratadine would be an effective on-demand treatment

On-demand antihistamines in chronic urticaria

for CSU. However, direct comparison of the 2 treatment

arms failed to show a difference between 5 and 20 mg.
Of the secondary outcome parameters, wheal numbers
were reduced after treatment with 20 mg desloratadine
but not after 5 mg compared with no treatment. The
other outcome variables did not reveal any differences
between treatment and no treatment.
Modern nsAHs are usually approved for the treatment
of allergic rhinitis and urticaria. In allergic rhinitis, a
continuous vs. an on-demand treatment scheme has
already been examined in some studies. Most found a
better efficacy of H1-antihistamines if given continuously (810). For example, Ciprandi et al. (8) demonstrated that patients treated with cetirizine continuously
achieved better relief of symptoms and greater reduction
in their nasal inflammatory infiltrate compared with
patients treated on an on-demand basis. Canonica et al.
(9) found an effect of levocetirizine for both treatment
regimens. However, the continuous therapy showed
better efficacy in the long-term. Interestingly, a single
study of Dizdar et al. (26) also provided contrary results,
i.e. failed to demonstrate superiority of a continuous,
preventive application of desloratadine in 37 children with allergic rhinitis with or without intermittent
asthma. These limited data led to the valid claim of
Laekeman and co-workers (27) in their recent review
on continuous vs. on-demand pharmacotherapy of allergic rhinitis, that more studies are needed to confirm
the conclusion that continuous treatment is preferable.
In CSU, we are aware of only one study comparing both
treatment approaches: Grob et al. (11) were able to show
that patients treated with desloratadine continuously
experienced a significantly better quality of life and a
lower mean number of days with moderate or severe
pruritus compared with patients treated on demand. In
contrast to our study, the treatment phase comprised 2
months.
The interpretation of studies in allergic rhinitis vs.
urticaria has to take into account that the symptoms
related to histamine receptor activation are different
in both conditions. In rhinitis, one of the main features is the runny nose, where mucous glands of the
nose are activated by histamine receptors. As soon as
these are blocked, the active production of mucous is
reduced after a short time. In contrast, the activation
of endothelial histamine receptors in urticaria leads to
an extravasation of fluid and cutaneous oedema. Thus,
blocking of histamine receptors in urticaria can stop and
prevent further extravasion of fluid, but is not expected
to have a direct effect on existing oedema. Oedema
is primarily reduced through the active transport of
interstitial fluid via lymphatic vessels, which depends
largely on the body area affected and its lymphatic
vessel supply. Our findings support this notion and
confirm that oedema reduction is largely histamine
receptor-independent.

173

The results of our trial support and add to the findings reported by Grob et al. (11), which demonstrate
that on-demand treatment in CSU is less effective than
continuous daily intake of a standard-dose non-sedating
antihistamine. In our study, neither the standard dose (5
mg) nor the higher dose (20 mg) of the same antihistamine used by Grob and co-workers, i.e. desloratadine,
were convincingly effective in reducing already-existing
wheals.
While this study has major strengths, e.g. it mimics
the actual clinical situation of many patients and it concentrates on objective rather than subjective outcome
parameters, it also has some limitations that should be
kept in mind when interpreting the data. Firstly, only
one nsAH was tested. Since it is known that different
antihistamines exhibit different pharmacokinetic and
pharmacodynamic properties, it cannot be excluded that
the use of other antihistamines might have led to contrasting results. Secondly, disease activity may vary between
different time-points in the same patient. This possibly
affects treatment outcome. Thirdly, it was necessary to
select an area of the body with well-established urticaria
lesions for the measurements. It cannot be excluded that
a greater effect of the study drug was present in other
regions of the skin where the urticaria was earlier in
evolution. Fourthly, a history of beneficial effect from
H1-antihistamine treatment was an inclusion criterion.
In this population it might be more difficult to demonstrate superiority of up-dosed nsAHs compared with a
pre-selected population that is known to be resistant to
standard dosed nsAHs. Fifthly, it is unclear if 5 h is sufficient time for following the wheals. Although this timespan was chosen based on the known time to maximum
plasma concentrations for desloratadine (~3 h), it is also
known that the drug is converted to active metabolites
and a maximum efficacy at a later time-point cannot
be fully excluded in our setting. Finally, the number of
participants in this study was limited.
In summary, the results of this clinical trial demonstrate that the beneficial effects of H1-antihistamines on
existing wheals (on-demand treatment) seem to be low,
if not absent. As many patients with CSU still tend to
use their medication only for on-demand treatment, the
results of this study imply that a preventive rather than
on-demand treatment strategy should be recommended
to patients. Although we did not directly compare continuous vs. on-demand treatment, it is well-established by
several randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled
clinical studies that H1-antihistamines are effective in
chronic urticaria when given continuously. In addition,
the results suggest that on-demand treatment does not
appear to be a suitable approach to compare the efficacy
of different therapeutic options in CSU. Hence studies
using another design (preventive, continuous, daily
treatment schedules and monitoring of symptoms over
a longer period of time), should be preferred.
Acta Derm Venereol 93

174

K. Weller et al.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors would like to thank all physicians from the urticaria
specialty clinic of the Allergie-Centrum-Charit for their help
in recruiting patients to the study. We also would like to thank
Revathy Chottekalapanda, PhD, and Michael Hanna, PhD,
(both from Mercury Medical Research & Writing) for providing
medical writing services.
Funding: This study was financially supported by Schering
Plough (Essex Pharma GmbH, Germany). In addition, the study
medication was provided by Schering Plough. The company did
not influence the data presentation in this work.
Conflicts of interest: The authors declare no conflicts of interest, but disclose the following relevant interactions with
pharmaceutical industry: K. Weller: the author declares that
he is or recently was compensated for educational lectures by
Essex Pharma (now MSD) and UCB. E. Ardelean: none. E.
Scholz: none. P. Martus: none. T. Zuberbier: the author declares
consulting activities for the following companies: DST, MSD,
Sanofi-Aventis, Schering Plough, and UCB. M. Maurer: the
author declares that he is, or recently was, a speaker and/or
advisor for Almirall Hermal, Essex Pharma, Merckle Recordati,
Sanofi Aventis, Schering-Plough, MSD, Merck, Dr. Pfleger,
UCB, and Uriach.

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