A new real-world study published in the Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology has shown that continuous treatment with rupatadine, a second-generation antihistamine (SgAH), leads to significant improvements in chronic urticaria, including chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) and chronic inducible urticaria (CIndU).
Background and Methods
Rupatadine has previously been shown to be effective in treating both CSU and CIndU, with rapid symptom reduction and a favorable safety profile. To further evaluate its long-term effectiveness, researchers conducted a retrospective, single-center observational study using real-world data from the CSU-REGMAR registry. The study assessed disease activity in patients with chronic urticaria treated with rupatadine (10 to 40 mg) over a 5-year period, using the Urticaria Activity Score 7 (UAS7) for CSU and the Urticaria Control Test (UCT) for CIndU.
Study Findings
The study analyzed data from 1,672 patients, predominantly women (66.6%) with an average age of 44.4 years. CSU was the most common diagnosis (46.3%), followed by CIndU (28.2%). Second-generation antihistamines were the most common initial treatment, with rupatadine frequently prescribed.
The study focused on 398 patients receiving rupatadine at baseline, with 196 maintaining continuous rupatadine therapy throughout the follow-up period. Over the 5-year follow-up, patients with both CSU and CIndU showed statistically significant improvements in UAS7 and UCT scores, respectively. More than half of CSU patients and a notable portion of CIndU patients achieved minimal clinically important differences after just 1 year of treatment, with these percentages increasing at the 3- and 5-year marks.
Conclusions
The study concluded that rupatadine is effective in improving symptoms associated with CSU and CIndU over the long term. “After enrolling the largest number of [chronic urticaria] patients in Spain in this registry, we concluded that CSU and CIndU individuals in our sample were treated appropriately with SgAHs according to guidelines and that rupatadine improved the evolution of symptoms associated with CSU and CIndU over the long-term,” the study authors wrote.
The authors recommended further research in real-world clinical practice settings to validate their findings and explore the long-term benefits of rupatadine in managing chronic urticaria.
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