Correlation of Serumβ-Endorphin and the Quality of Life in Allergic Rhinitis

Abstract

Background.Allergic rhinitis (AR) significantly impairs the quality of life of the patients; however, a questionnaire alone is an insufficient and subjective measure of this condition. Obtaining an objective clinical assessment of the level of impairment will be valuable for its treatment.β-Endorphin is one of the most important mediators of both mental state and specific immunity. Thus, we investigated the possibility of usingβ-endorphin as a biomarker for evaluating the impairment level in AR.Methods.This study included 48 patients with AR and 32 healthy volunteers. The serumβ-endorphin level was determined by enzyme immunoassay, and the serum-specific IgE and total IgE levels were determined by immunoblot assay. The Rhinoconjunctivitis Quality of Life Questionnaire (RQLQ) was used to assess the impairment level in the symptom duration.Results.Theβ-endorphin concentration was significantly decreased in AR patients compared to the healthy controls (p=0.000,p<0.05). There was significant negative correlation between the impairment level and serumβ-endorphin level (correlation coefficient:-0.468;p=0.001;p<0.05), but there was no association between the serumβ-endorphin and total IgE levels (p=0.947,p>0.05).Conclusion.β-Endorphin is a systemic biomarker that has the potential to assess the impairment level in AR and may therefore be a novel therapeutic target for the treatment of AR.