Jennifer Theunis, David Black, Arnaud Degouy, Anne-Marie Schmitt, Laurent Misery
DOI: 10.2340/00015555-0482

The role of personal factors makes it difficult to correlate subjective data, such as those obtained with the use of a visual analogue scale, and objective data, such as a quantity of injected histamine. In this study, prick tests with histamine and codeine on the forearms allowed a coherent variation in itch scores to be obtained over time, with highly significant differences from controls and with a peak at 4 minutes. These tests are therefore valuable for screening anti-pruritic agents. A significant difference between initial scores and scores for new prick tests after 7 days suggest that tachyphylaxis persists.