Abstract
Background
To test the hypothesis that theophylline is effective in correcting smell loss in
patients with hyposmia.
Methods
Three hundred twelve patients with smell loss (hyposmia) were evaluated to determine
characteristics of their loss by psychophysical measurements of detection and recognition
thresholds, magnitude estimation and hedonic values for 4 odors (pyridine, nitrobenzene,
thiophene, and amyl acetate) by use of a forced-choice 3-stimuli staircase design
previously documented in a double-blind study. Patients were then treated in a fixed
design open-label clinical trial with oral theophylline. Drug was given in equal divided
doses from 200 to 800 mg daily for 2-to 8-month periods and subjective and psychophysical measurements of
smell function and blood theophylline levels were measured; results were compared
with those obtained before treatment.
Results
Subjective smell loss improved in 157 (50.3%) patients; smell function was considered
normal by 34 (21.7%). Overall, 10.9% of patients in the study considered smell function
returned to normal. However, measurements of mean detection and recognition thresholds
improved significantly at each drug level; measurements of mean magnitude estimation
and hedonic also improved. Improvement was greater at drug doses of 600 and 800 mg than at 200 or 400 mg. Once improvement occurred, as long as treatment was maintained, it persisted for
as long as follow-up was measured.
Conclusion
Theophylline was effective in improving smell function in patients with smell loss.
Improvement persisted as long as treatment was continued, which extended from 6 to
72 months.
Key Indexing Terms
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Article info
Publication history
Accepted:
October 14,
2008
Received:
July 11,
2008
Footnotes
Presented, in part, at Experimental Biology, San Diego, CA, April, 2008.
Identification
Copyright
© 2009 Southern Society for Clinical Investigation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
