Sublingual immunotherapy for pollen allergic rhinitis: a systematic
review and meta-analysis
Abstract
Intro Allergic rhinitis(AR) is a common condition which can
significantly impair quality of life. This study aimed to illustrate the
efficacy and safety of sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT) on pollen AR
patients. Methods Four electronic databases (PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane
Library, and Web of Science) were searched from their inception until
September 2019. Two reviewers (FLF and CLJ) independently extracted
the data. The Cochrane’s Risk of Bias tool was used to assess the
quality of included studies. The outcomes of study were calculated by MD
or SMD with 95%CI. A meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.3
software. Results In this systematic review, a total of 8 articles were
included, involving 785 participants. The quality of the included
studies ranged from low to moderate. The results of the meta-analysis
showed that compared with placebo, a significant reduction of nasal
symptoms were observed on SLIT (MD = −0.84, 95% CI = −1.47 to −0.22, P
< 0.05), IgE (SMD =0.46, 95% CI = 0.16 to 0.76, P <
0.05); No significant effect on medication scores (MD = −0.41, 95% CI =
−0.89 to 0.07, P =0.10). No serious adverse events were reported, and
symptoms of adverse events were reported more frequently in the
gastrointestinal symptoms. Conclusion SLIT can effectively relieve
rhinitis symptoms and decrease the level of specific-IgE for pollen
allergic rhinitis patients and the safety was verified. But due to the
low quality of studies, more high-quality randomized trials are needed
to provide stronger evidence of the conclusion.