Autologous whole blood and autologous serum injections are equally effective as placebo injections in reducing disease activity in patients with chronic spontaneous urticaria: a placebo controlled, randomized, single-blind study.

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Recent demonstration of circulating anti-IgG antibodies towards IgE and its receptor (FcϵRI) has led to an interest in inducing tolerance to circulating histamine-releasing factors with autologous blood injections as a treatment option in chronic spontaneous urticaria (CU). The aim of the study was to assess the efficacy of autologous whole blood (AWB) and autologous serum (AS) injections in patients with CU compared to placebo.

METHODS:

A total of 88 CU patients with (+) autologous serum skin test (ASST) (59) and (-) ASST (29) were randomized into three parallel subgroups and were treated with weekly injections of AWB, AS or placebo for 10 weeks. Clinical assessments included urticaria activity score (UAS) and dermatology life quality index.

RESULTS:

In ASST (+) patients, the percentages of patients with >30% improvement in UAS and DLQI were 85% and 90% in AWB group, 65% and 65% in AS group and 79% and 90% in placebo group, respectively. In ASST (-) patients, these figures were 67% and 89% in the AWB group, 80% and 80% in the AS group and 60% and 70% in the placebo group. The intergroup difference for complete subsidence was not statistically significant.

CONCLUSIONS:

Even though we could not show a better efficacy than placebo, autohemotherapy resulted in a marked decrease in disease activity and improvement in quality of life scores in CU patients.

• Authors: Emek Kocatürk, Selin Aktaş, Zafer Türkoğlu, Mukaddes Kavala, Ilkin Zindanci, Melek Koc, Burçe Can, Sibel Südoğan
• Journal: The Journal of dermatological treatment (J Dermatolog Treat) Vol. 23 Issue 6 Pg. 465-71 (Dec 2012) ISSN: 1471-1753 [Electronic] England
• PMID: 21801101 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Randomized Controlled Trial)

Chemical References

• Antibodies, Anti-Idiotypic
• anti-IgG

Topics

• Adolescent
• Adult
• Aged
• Antibodies, Anti-Idiotypic (blood)
• Blood Transfusion, Autologous
• Chronic Disease
• Female
• Humans
• Injections
• Male
• Middle Aged
• Prospective Studies
• Quality of Life
• Serum (immunology)
• Single-Blind Method
• Skin Tests
• Urticaria (immunology, therapy)
• Young Adult