Perennial Non-allergic Rhinitis (PNAR)
PNAR is a condition in which the patient has no identifiable specific allergic sensitivities and is believed to affect millions of individuals in the westernized world. However, its underlying pathophysiology is not well understood, likely due to the complexity of the diagnosis and the fact that there are likely a number of conditions classed within this category and heterogeneity of underlying disease mechanisms. Within this grouping are patients with Vasomotor Rhinitis (VMR), in which precipitants include climate change (temperature and barometric changes) and non-specific nasal irritants, such as perfumes. Nasal obstruction and rhinorrhea are hallmark symptoms. Due to the inability to control precipitating factors few well-designed, clinical trials providing evidence for the treatment options of PNAR have been performed.
ARI has a state-of-the-art environmental chamber (EEC #5, 10 subject capacity) which will allow the rigorous testing of therapeutics towards the treatment of PNAR. The ability to control environmental conditions such as temperature, wind speed, and barometric pressure will allow testing using these environmental precipitators in a select PNAR population. Introduction of environmental irritants can also be tested.
It has also been noted that seasonal allergies are worse on days where non-allergic irritants such as small particulate pollutant counts are high. This suggests that non-allergic irritants may increase the sensitivity to seasonal allergens and worsen SAR symptoms. This chamber could be used to look at a combination of allergen and non-allergic irritant effects.
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