Pakistan Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences

Abstract: Background: Post-exercise nasal symptoms (e.g., nasal itching, sneezing, congestion, runny nose) affect 15%-30% of people with allergic constitutions, especially teenagers and sports enthusiasts. Conventional ketotifen nasal drops require twice-daily dosing due to a short half-life, leading to poor compliance and unstable symptom control. Objectives: To investigate the effects of sustained-release ketotifen nasal drops on nasal vascular permeability, post-exercise nasal congestion duration, and safety in patients with such symptoms. Methods: A total of 120 eligible patients were randomly divided into two groups (n=60 each). The observation group received sustained-release ketotifen nasal drops once daily, while the control group used standard ketotifen nasal drops twice daily. Both groups were treated for 4 weeks. Key outcomes included Evans blue absorbance (nasal vascular permeability), post-exercise nasal congestion duration, clinical symptom scores, overall efficacy, and adverse reactions. Results: After treatment, the observation group had significantly lower Evans blue absorbance (0.18±0.04 vs 0.25±0.05), shorter nasal congestion duration (12.35±2.17 min vs 18.62±2.89 min), and lower clinical symptom score (3.12±0.85 vs 5.26±1.13) than the control group (all P<0.05). The overall efficacy rate was 93.33% in the observation group, significantly higher than the control group’s 78.33% (P<0.05). Adverse reaction rates were similar (11.67% vs 13.33%, P>0.05), with mild, reversible skin side effects. Conclusion: Sustained-release ketotifen nasal drops effectively improve nasal vascular permeability, reduce post-exercise nasal congestion duration, and alleviate clinical symptoms in patients with post-exercise nasal symptoms, with high efficacy and good safety. It provides a convenient once-daily treatment option.