Abstract | BACKGROUND: OBJECTIVE: We sought to classify patients with CIU into subsets on the basis of serum bioactivity and immunoreactivity and to examine the relationship between newly defined subtype and disease severity. METHODS: Sera from patients with CIU (n = 78), dermog-raphism (n = 15), and cholinergic urticaria (n = 10) and sera from healthy subjects (n = 39) were analyzed by means of Western blot analysis for anti-FcepsilonRI autoantibodies and for histamine release from basophils and dermal mast cells. In vivo reactivity of autologous serum was tested by means of intradermal injection, and CIU severity was determined on the basis of clinical interview. RESULTS: CONCLUSION: These data support the specificity of functional anti-FcepsilonRI autoantibodies to CIU. The identification of distinctive subsets of patients suggests that other pathogenic mechanisms occur in CIU in addition to direct ligation of FcepsilonRI by autoantibodies causing dermal mast cell degranulation. Elucidating these mechanisms might lead to new treatments for CIU.
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Authors | Ruth A Sabroe, Edda Fiebiger, David M Francis, Dieter Maurer, Paul T Seed, Clive E h Grattan, Anne Kobza Black, Georg Stingl, Malcolm W Greaves, Robert M Barr |
Journal | The Journal of allergy and clinical immunology
(J Allergy Clin Immunol)
Vol. 110
Issue 3
Pg. 492-9
(Sep 2002)
ISSN: 0091-6749 [Print] United States |
PMID | 12209101
(Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)
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Chemical References |
- Antibodies, Anti-Idiotypic
- Autoantibodies
- Receptors, IgE
- anti-IgE antibodies
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Topics |
- Adolescent
- Adult
- Antibodies, Anti-Idiotypic
(immunology)
- Autoantibodies
(blood, immunology)
- Blotting, Western
- Chronic Disease
- Histamine Release
- Humans
- Middle Aged
- Receptors, IgE
(immunology)
- Skin Tests
- Urticaria
(classification, diagnosis, immunology)
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