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Serum interleukin‐18 in patients with chronic ordinary urticaria: association with disease activity
Author(s) -
Tedeschi A.,
Lorini M.,
Suli C.,
Asero R.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
clinical and experimental dermatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.587
H-Index - 78
eISSN - 1365-2230
pISSN - 0307-6938
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2230.2007.02450.x
Subject(s) - histamine , medicine , chronic urticaria , basophil , cytokine , immunology , interleukin , in vivo , immune system , gastroenterology , immunoglobulin e , antibody , biology , microbiology and biotechnology
Summary Interleukin (IL)‐18 is a pleiotropic cytokine, which may play a role in autoimmune and allergic disorders. Serum IL‐18 levels were measured in 34 patients with chronic ordinary urticaria (COU) and 17 normal subjects. In vivo and in vitro assays for histamine‐releasing factors, an autologous serum skin test (ASST) and a basophil histamine release assay were also performed for all patients with COU. Serum IL‐18 concentration was not significantly different between patients with COU and normal subjects (mean ± standard error of the mean 246.47 ± 18.40 pg/mL vs. 213.88 ± 22.24 pg/mL), and no significant difference was found between ASST‐positive and ASST‐negative patients. However, in ASST‐positive patients, IL‐18 levels paralleled clinical severity scores and showed a tendency to correlate with in vitro histamine release. The increased IL‐18 levels in the ASST‐positive patients with most active chronic urticaria may reflect stronger immune system activation and possibly an involvement of IL‐18 as a direct histamine‐releasing factor.