Homochlorcyclizine dihydrochloride is used to treat certain forms of allergies such as allergic asthma, allergic rhinitis, drug allergies, and more. Usually, this drug is used to relieve itching that is often found in certain skin disorders. It works by blocking a specific natural substance (histamine) that your body produces during an allergic reaction. It also has some anticholinergic and antiserotonergic properties. This drug was first released in Japan in 1965.
Homochlorcyclizine dihydrochloride has certain pharmacological properties. First, it restrains the bradykinin-induced contraction of isolated guinea pig ileum. Second, it slightly blocks SRS-A (the slow reacting substance of anaphylaxis) – induced contraction of the isolated guinea pig ileum. Lastly, homochlorcyclizine dihydrochloride inhibits histamine-induced contractions and absorption.
The drug is often given to patients with different allergic conditions. This drug is indicated in patients who had failed to react appropriately to the usual drugs for allergy, such as anti-inflammatory agents. In some instances, this compound is used as the first-line drug for allergy.
Observations were made on the main subjective and objective therapeutic effects of this drug, its side effects, its mechanisms of action, dosage considerations, local reactions from the injection of antigens for desensitization, and the effect of this drug on skin tests. This drug has a wide range of clinical effects and is useful in specific kinds of asthma, resistant cases of seasonal and perennial allergic rhinitis, urticaria, dermatitis, and other allergic and allergy-like manifestations. It is proved to be clinically effective, and its effects cannot be satisfactorily explained by its known antagonism to histamine, acetylcholine, or to serotonin or by its simple bronchodilator action. There may be antagonism of the drug against slow-reacting substances or other known or unknown muscle-contracting or capillary permeability factors.
