Double Blind Crossover Study of Cromolyn Sodium Inhibition of Aerosol Antigen Challenge

¹ Director, Allergy and Infectious Disease Division, Department of Medicine, St. Luke's Hospital Center; Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York

Six men patients, with type I hypersensitivity to pollen antigens, were studied during four separate periods approximately one week apart. During the first and fourth periods, aqueous extracts of ragweed or grass pollen were administered via a nebulizer. During the second and third periods the patients were treated with a single capsule of cromolyn sodium or placebo in a double blind fashion, delivered as a powder 30 minutes prior to antigen bronchial challenge. The test doses of antigen resulted in a decrease of FEV₁ ranging from 20.3 to 61.3 percent with a mean of 35.5 percent. Pretreatment with cromolyn sodium resulted in 21.9 to 100 percent protection with a mean of 65.3 percent which contrasts with the 12.24 percent protection follwing placebo (P0.005). The FVC measurements paralleled these changes. This double blind study demonstrates the ability of cromolyn sodium to provide protection against polleninduced obstruction in sensitive asthmatic subjects.