Novel Intranasal Cleansing Kit Improves Allergy Symptoms in Over 80% of Patients

With his practice located in central CA, Arman Kalamkarian, MD, of AHK Primary and Preventive Medicine, is confronted with "an exorbitant amount" of patients that suffer from allergy symptoms. His recent study on a novel intranasal cleanse showed that over 80% of the 20 patients with chronic allergy symptoms reported significant improvement in their symptoms after 2 weeks of intranasal cleansing with NasoClenz.

“NasoClenz is a novel approach because it cleans the nostrils, whereas other sinus cleansing products usually are targeting the sinus, bypassing the nostrils, and the irrigation methods are not targeting the same anatomical location,” he explained. “And so, being able to treat the nostrils and clean the nostrils may be an adjuvant therapy to sinus irrigation and other products like it on the market.”

The cleansing kit included an applicator and gel containing benzalkonium chloride which patients applied to their nostrils twice daily for 2 weeks. To examine the effectiveness of the practice, Kalamkarian and investigators administered a modified RCAT survey for the 20 participants and obtained nasal cultures from 9 of them before and after the test period.

“We hope to expand on it with larger studies to demonstrate the efficacy of cleaning the nostrils and relieving allergy symptoms,” Kalamkarian said. “The utility of this product being antiseptic and moisturizing allows us to have great versatility and use across the population.”

While the team was unable to perform a blind, controlled trial, their data demonstrated the efficacy of the antiseptic component by eliminating bacteria in the nasal passage. Among the participating patients with mold present, 75% of them were free of mold by the end of the study period.

In addition to the promising results, intranasal cleansing can serve as an affordable and low-risk option for relieving allergy symptoms with an easily adoptable practice, Kalamkarian said.

“It's as simple as brushing your teeth,” he said. “So, the anticipation would be–wash your hands, brush your teeth, clean your nose–and allow that process to help the patients who suffer from allergy symptoms.”

Dr. Arman Kalmakarian also serves on the clinical advisory board of NasoClenz.

• Listen to more of HCPLive’s interview with him from the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (AAAAI) 2023 Annual Meeting in San Antonio, TX,
• Read the full study "Can Use of A Novel Nasal Cleansing Kit Impact Relief of Allergy Symptoms?" on NasoCleanz in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.