Subjects
Ninety-eight subjects (males : females = 52:46; mean age = 34.5 years; range 18–70 years) with CSU were evaluated at Department of Dermatology and selected for the study. The control group consisted of ninty-one healthy subjects, mean age is 36 years ranging from 20 to 60. All patients fulfilled the EAACI/GA(2)LEN/EDF/WAO criteria for CSU (spontaneous appearance of wheals/no obvious external specific trigger daily, or almost daily for ≥ 6 weeks)13. All the patients showed active urticaria without angioedema at the time of assessment. None of the examined subjects had taken antihistamines within at least 4 days before the study, glucocorticoids and cyclosporine therapy had been withdrawn at least 8 weeks before.None of these patients were previously treated with omalizumab.Routine investigations had been performed to exclude concomitant diseases/conditions that may lead to an increase in systemic inflammatory response markers,and exclude any known other diseases.
Assessment of disease severity
According to the mean number of wheals which was appeared during a week, the disease severity was assessed before blood sampling14: patients with 1 to 10 small wheals (<3 cm in diameter) were classified as mild, patients with 10 to 50 small wheals or 1 to 10 large wheals (>3 cm in diameter) were classified as moderate,and patients with more than 50 small wheals or less than 10 large wheals were classified as severe.
Blood collection
For all measurements, venous blood was collected between 8:00 and 10:00 hours from the antecubital vein in the morning after an overnight fast. EDTA was used as anticoagulant. The remaining samples were collected and evaluations were made as part of a standard battery of routine laboratory examinations in CSU patients.