A Review Regarding the Connections between Allergic Rhinitis and Asthma - Epidemiology, Diagnosis and Treatment

[Modern approaches to rational combination pharmacotherapy of allergic rhinitis]

Allergic rhinitis (AR) can significantly reduce the quality of life of patients leading to increased fatigue, mood changes, cognitive impairment, and depression. In clinical practice, insufficient effectiveness of initial AR monotherapy is often noted, and a significant proportion of patients referring for medical care have moderate-severe AR. In this regard, the issues of optimization of combined pharmacological treatment of AR are becoming more and more urgent. This paper provides analysis of the opportunities of combined pharmacotherapy within the framework of current management strategy of AR. Based on the results of some studies and known pharmacological properties of medications it is being discussed the advantages of combined use of intranasal corticosteroids and leukotriene receptor antagonists, in particular mometasone furoate and montelukast, in the therapy of AR, including such comorbidities as bronchial asthma, chronic polyposis rhinosinusitis and pharyngeal tonsil hyperplasia. Some aspects of combination therapy with montelukast and second-generation systemic antihistamines as an alternative approach in case of inability to take intranasal corticosteroids, including the reasonability of using a fixed combination of montelukast and levocetirizine, are analyzed from the perspective of rational pharmacotherapy. The problem of interchangeability of brand-name and generic drugs for the treatment of AR is discussed, considering the almost complete absence of studies of their therapeutic equivalence.