Open AccessA positive serum basophil histamine release assay is a marker for ciclosporin‐responsiveness in patients with chronic spontaneous urticaria
Author(s) -
Iqbal Kamran,
Bhargava Kapil,
Skov Per Stahl,
Falkencrone Sidsel,
Grattan Clive EH
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
clinical and translational allergy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.979
H-Index - 37
ISSN - 2045-7022
DOI - 10.1186/2045-7022-2-19
Subject(s) - medicine , ciclosporin , histamine , basophil , antihistamine , chronic idiopathic urticaria , autoantibody , biomarker , immunology , allergy , gastroenterology , chronic urticaria , chemotherapy , immunoglobulin e , antibody , biochemistry , chemistry
Abstract The electronic records of 398 patients with chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) who had had a serum basophil histamine release assay (BHRA) performed as a marker of functional autoantibodies were audited. The BHRA was positive in 105 patients (26.4%). Fifty eight were treated with ciclosporin because they were H1 anti‐histamine unresponsive. CSU patients with a positive BHRA were more likely to respond clinically (P<0.001) and to have raised thyroid autoantibodies (P<0.02) than those with a negative BHRA. The BHRA offers a useful predictive biomarker for a good response of H1 antihistamine‐unresponsive CSU patients to ciclosporin.