Oral bepotastine: in allergic disorders.

Oral bepotastine is a second-generation histamine H(1) receptor antagonist that also suppresses some allergic inflammatory processes. Numerous short- and long-term clinical trials and surveillance studies have shown that twice-daily bepotastine is an effective and generally well tolerated antihistamine in the treatment of patients with allergic rhinitis, chronic urticaria or pruritus associated with skin conditions (eczema/dermatitis, prurigo or pruritus cutaneus). Bepotastine 20 mg/day was significantly more effective than terfenadine 120 mg/day in patients with perennial allergic rhinitis, as evaluated by the final global improvement rating and several other endpoints in a phase III trial. In phase III trials in patients with chronic urticaria, bepotastine 20 mg/day was more effective than placebo in improving levels of itching and eruption, and as effective as terfenadine 120 mg/day with regard to the final global improvement rating and other endpoints. In a noncomparative trial in patients with pruritus associated with skin diseases, the majority of bepotastine recipients in the overall population, as well as in the specific skin disease subgroups (eczema/dermatitis, prurigo or pruritus cutaneus), had a final global improvement rating of moderate or greater. Bepotastine was generally well tolerated in adult and paediatric patients with allergic conditions.