Plant extract offers improved therapy for hay fever
A study shows allergic symptoms are better alleviated than with the usual histamine receptor antagonists
A new treatment that fights hay fever with a plant extract has been shown to work in a clinical study conducted by researchers of the Center of Allergy & Environment (ZAUM) of Helmholtz Zentrum München and Technische Universität München.
In a paper published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology*, scientists explained how this plant extract worked better in alleviating allergic symptoms than the usual histamine receptor antagonists.
Antihistamine medications have been considered the treatment of choice to alleviate the symptoms of hay fever sufferers. Now, in a randomised double-blind study, Dr Adam Chaker and Prof. Dr Carsten Schmidt-Weber demonstrated that the plant extract Ze 339 (Petasol butenoate complex) combats nasal mucosa swelling faster and more effectively.
The researchers claim that extract’s benefits are not only limited to acute cases – ‘Our data indicate that the extract also has a preventive effect, which must be investigated further,’ said Dr Schmidt-Weber, head of the Center of Allergy & Environment (ZAUM) in Munich. The results look promising for improving the quality of life of people with allergies.
So far the plant extract has only been approved as a drug in Switzerland and South Korea. Further studies need to be carried out in order to allow it to be sold as a prescription drug on the German market.
* Dumitru A.F. et al (2011), Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology; advance online publication