Suppression of basophil Fc-RI activation by serum from active chronic idiopathic/spontaneous urticaria (CIU/CSU) subjects

Suppression of basophil FcɛRI activation by serum from active chronic idiopathic/spontaneous urticaria (CIU/CSU) subjects

There is evidence that IgE plays a role in urticaria. For example, injection of cold urticaria patients’ serum into a healthy subject’s skin transfers the sensitivity to the cold stimulus. Clinical trials with monoclonal anti-IgE (omalizumab) in subjects with CIU/CSU have shown rapid symptom relief, which implicates IgE in the disease pathway. Furthermore, the autoimmune theory of CIU/CSU pathogenesis proposes that serum IgG autoantibodies specific to IgE or the IgE receptor directly activate skin mast cells and basophils in a subset of CIU/CSU subjects. In this study, we examined the ability of active CIU/CSU patients’ serum to transfer FcεRI-mediated BHR suppression to healthy basophils and further test the contributions of IgE, IgG, and complement in the observed basophil mediator suppression.


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