Effect of Yupingfeng granules combined with glucocorticoid on eosinophil infiltration and inflammatory factors of lavage fluid in nasal secretion of patients with allergic rhinitis

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of Yupingfeng granules, a well-known traditional Chinese medication, combined with glucocorticoids on eosinophil (EOS) number and inflammatory factors in nasal secretions of patients with allergic rhinitis (AR). 76 patients with AR were randomly divided into controls (nasal inhaled corticosteroids alone) and experimental group (combined with Yupingfeng granules orally). The efficacy, symptoms, number of EOS and levels of inflammatory factors in nasal secretions were compared between the two groups after 2 months of treatment. The results showed that in the experimental group (94.73%, 0.48 ± 0.25 points), the effective rate of treatment was obviously higher and the physical sign score was clearly lower compared with controls (81.57%, 0.97 ± 0.36 points); the EOS count in the experimental group was clearly less than that in the controls; the tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) (0.76 ± 0.44 ng/mL), interleukin-6 (IL-6) (11.83 ± 3.72 pg/mL), and interleukin-8 (IL-8) (17.45 ± 6.53 pg/mL) levels were evidently lower in the experimental group than in the controls (1.48 ± 0.72 ng/mL, 14.62 ± 5.19 pg/mL, 22.86 ± 9.35 pg/mL) (P < 0.05). In summary, compared with nasal inhalation of glucocorticoids alone, combined with oral administration of Yupingfeng granules, it can more significantly improve the symptoms of nasal obstruction and rhinorrhea in AR patients, reduce nasal mucosal edema, reduce the number of EOS in nasal secretions, and reduce the level of inflammatory factors, which is of positive significance for the clinical treatment of AR patients.