Evaluation of allergic rhinitis with nasal symptoms and nasal mucociliary clearance in patients with fibromyalgia syndrome

BACKROUND: The exact etiopathogenesis of fibromyalgia syndrome (FM) is still unclear but the pathogenesis of FM is associated with neurogenic inflammation. Allergic rhinitis (AR) is a common inflammatory and immunological disease of the nasal mucosa. As a result, it is known that neurogenic inflammation has a role in the pathophysiology of both FM and AR. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate AR and nasal allergic inflammation using nasal mucociliary clearance time (NMC) in FM patients. METHODS: Forty-five FM patients and fifty healthy controls were included in the study. In both groups, AR was evaluated by total nasal symptom scoring (TNSS) and NMC was measured using saccharine transit time test (STT). RESULTS: TNSS was positive in 9 patients (20%) in the FM group and no positivity in the control group. In FM group, the mean value of TNSS was higher than that of the control group (p = 0.0001). The average value of STT of FM patients was statistically significantly longer when compared to the control group (p = 0.0001). CONCLUSION: The results we obtained suggest that there is a high possibility of coexistence of FM and AR. As a result, the coexistence of AR and FM cannot be denied but we believe that comprehensive clinical studies should be conducted on this subject.