Nafluryl-Flunarizina

Nagoya J Med Sci. 2008 Aug;70(3-4):97-106.

Evaluation of cetirizine hydrochloride-based therapeutic strategy for chronic urticaria.

Sugiura K, Hirai S, Suzuki T, Usuda T, Kondo T, Azumi T, Masaki S, Yokoi T, Nitta Y, Kamiya S, Ando K, Mori T, Tomita Y.

Department of Pediatrics, Division of Neurology, St Christopher's Hospital for Children, Drexel University College of Medicine, Erie Avenue at Front Street, Philadelphia, PA 19134, USA.

Cyclical vomiting syndrome (CVS), and abdominal migraine (AM) are relatively unusual periodic syndromes, generally believed to be migraine equivalents, and are characterized by recurrent and severe paroxysmal episodes of vomiting and/or abdominal pain lasting hours to days, separated by weeks to months of no symptoms. Flunarizine is a calcium channel-blocking agent that has been used successfully as a prophylactic agent in the prevention of both childhood and adult-onset migraine syndromes. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of flunarizine as a prophylactic/preventive agent in the treatment of CVS and AM. Eight children with CVS and 10 children with AM were included in the study. The mean dose of flunarizine was 5 mg/day in children with CVS, and 7.5 mg/day in children with AM. Follow-up ranged from 6 to 24 months (mean 13 months). There was a 57% reduction in frequency and 44% reduction in duration of attacks of CVS, and a 61% reduction in frequency and 51% reduction in duration of attacks of AM. Sixty-four percent of patients with CVS and AM had history of episodic recurrent headaches with 60% reduction in frequency of attacks on treatment. Flunarizine showed to be equally efficacious than previously tried therapies in the prophylaxis of a small cohort of patients with CVS and AM.

The effect of cetirizine on IFN-gamma and IL-10 production in children with allergic rhinitis.

Reveiz-Herault L, Cardona AF, Ospina EG, Carrillo P.

Servicio de Medicina Familiar, Instituto Nacional de Cancerología, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Bogotá, Colombia.

BACKGROUND: Migraine is a common and disabling health problem among young and middle aged adults. Flunarizine have been used as a prophylactic medication in its management for more than two decades. OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study is to systematically review the evidence obtained from randomized controlled trials about the efficacy and security of flunarizine versus placebo for the prevention of migraine in adults. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Electronic search were performed using the databases MEDLINE, EMBASE, Biosis, the Cochrane Library, Lilacs and others. Reference lists of retrieved studies, reviews and conference abstracts were used to found another articles. Additionally, the authors performed a handsearched in recognized journals related to migraine and neurological topics. Randomized, placebo controlled, double blind trials assessing the efficacy of flunarizine for preventing migraine were included. We evaluated the frequency of the attacks by comparing the mean frequency before and after the intervention for each group of treatment and then the two groups were compared. To evaluate the security of flunarizine we used included and excluded studies and open trials. RESULTS: Nine studies were obtained but only four met the inclusion criteria. The fixed effects model reported a reduction in the frequency of attacks by using flunarizine. The monthly difference was 0.55 attacks (CI 95%= 0.215 0.895; p= 0.002). Somnolence was the most frequent adverse effect in 20.5% of the subjects (n= 1,987). CONCLUSIONS: Based on a small number of trials, flunarizine, at a daily dose of 10 mg lightly reduces the frequency of migraine attacks.

Ann Otol Rhinol Laryngol. 2004 Dec;113(12):941-5.

Effects of cetirizine on substance P release in patients with perennial allergic rhinitis.

Dora B, Balkan S, Tercan E.

Departments of Neurology, Akdeniz University Medical School, Antalya, Turkey.

BACKGROUND: Modification of migraine-associated cerebrovascular reactivity may provide insight into the mechanism of action of a given therapeutic intervention. METHODS: With transcranial Doppler and a breath-holding index, cerebrovascular reactivity to hypercapnia was evaluated in 20 patients with migraine without aura interictally and in 11 healthy controls. Patients were started on prophylactic treatment with flunarizine 10 mg per day, and measurements were repeated at the end of every month for 3 months. Headache status was evaluated clinically via a headache index. Headache index; breath-holding index; systolic, diastolic, and mean blood flow velocities; and pulsatility index measurements were recorded at every session. RESULTS: The baseline breath-holding index was significantly higher in the migraine group compared to the control group (P =.002). No difference in other parameters was found between the groups. The change in the headache index was significant (P<.001), indicating a beneficial effect from flunarizine. The breath-holding index improved significantly after treatment (P<.001), and the baseline difference in the breath-holding index between the pretreatment migraine group and the control group was no longer evident at 3 months. There was no significant change with treatment in the other transcranial Doppler parameters. CONCLUSIONS: Our finding of unchanged blood flow velocities but normalized cerebrovascular reactivity after treatment suggests that the mechanism of action of flunarizine in migraine does not involve a vasodilatory effect on cerebral vessels. It may be instead that flunarizine modifies cerebrovascular reactivity through its action on centrally located structures that subserve autonomic vascular control.