New approaches to patient management with transient remission of year-round allergic rhinitis associated with persistent chlamydial infection

Abstract

Currently, allergic rhinitis is a global socioeconomic problem. According to current statistics, from 15 to 30% of the world’s population suffers from year-round or seasonal allergic rhinitis. Increasingly, the attention of Russian clinicians is attracted by the problem of year-round allergic rhinitis as there is an increase in the incidence in patients of the central zone of the Russian Federation with this form of rhinitis due to sensitization to house dust mite allergens, epidermal allergens of domestic animals, insect and mold allergens. Despite a timely diagnosis and received basic treatment, patients suffering from year-round allergic rhinitis often fail to achieve stable remission. Therefore, we can conclude that a more thorough diagnosis of the disease is needed, aimed at identifying other factors that affect the course of the disease. Objective. To develop a scheme for diagnosing a possible persistent respiratory chlamydial infection that affects the course of year-round allergic rhinitis in patients with a tendency to transient remissions. Materials and methods. Computed tomography of the paranasal sinuses, nasal swab for flora, PCR scraping of the nasal mucosa for the detection of Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) DNA, determination of viral DNA of cytomegalovirus infection (CMV) (PCR scraping of the nasal mucosa), determination of DNA in the scraping of epithelial cells of the nasal mucosa (PCR scraping) of human herpes virus type 6 (HHV-6 type). Patients who had pathological changes in computed tomography of the paranasal sinuses, deviations from the normal flora during bacteriological culture, and positive results in the PCR study of the above infections were excluded from the study. Then, PCR scraping of the nasopharyngeal mucosa for the detection of chlamydia pneumoniae, a survey of complaints (SNOT-22 questionnaire), data from an objective examination method (examination of ENT organs using video endoscopic technologies), an immunological examination of blood serum for IgG antibodies to chlamydial infection, further avidity of IgG antibodies to chlamydia pneumoniae and serum IL-6. Conclusion. The proposed diagnostic scheme will allow identifying a possible persistent respiratory chlamydial infection, which is the cause of transient remission of year-round allergic rhinitis, and developing a new integrated approach to the management of patients with year-round allergic rhinitis associated with this infection.