BACKGROUND:

Helicobacter pylori (HP) have recently emerged as a novel eliciting factor for chronic urticaria (CU). The possible association between HP and CU has enormous potential, as eradicating HP could cure CU.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES:

We conducted a study to assess the prevalence of HP infection and effect of bacterium eradication on skin lesions in patients of chronic idiopathic urticaria (CIU).

SETTINGS AND DESIGN:

Four hundred sixty patients of CU attending the allergy clinic, SMS hospital, Jaipur during the period February 6, 2004, to February 6, 2006, were screened for possible eliciting factors. Patients with CIU were enrolled and others were excluded.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

Sixty-eight patients of CIU and similar number of age and sex matched controls, attending the allergy clinic, SMS Hospital, Jaipur were enrolled in the study. All patients underwent endoscopy with antral biopsy for urease and histopathology to identify HP-associated gastritis. Infected patients were given HP eradication therapy. Eradication of bacterium was confirmed by fecal antigen assay. Subjective response to treatment was judged using chronic urticaria quality-of-life questionnaire (CU-Q 2 oL) while objective response to treatment was judged by need for 'rescue medication' (antihistaminics).

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS:

Data were analyzed using Chi square and paired 't' test for their level of significance.

RESULTS:

HP associated gastritis was present in 48 (70.58%) patients, out of which 39 (81.25%) patients responded to eradication therapy. Ten (50.00%) patients without HP associated gastritis showed response to symptomatic therapy. Overall 49 (72.05%) patients responded and 19 (27.94%) showed no response. The value of chi2 was 28.571 (P = 0.003), which showed significant association between presence of HP and response to eradication regimen.

CONCLUSION:

The response of HP eradication therapy in infected patients of CIU is significant. HP should be included in diagnostic workup of patients with CIU.

Recent studies suggest that histamine H2-receptor antagonists may be useful in the treatment of urticaria. This study was conducted to determine whether famotidine, a H2 antagonist, is effective in the treatment of acute urticaria and compare its effect with that of the H1 antagonist diphenhydramine. In this prospective, double-blind, controlled trial, 25 patients with urticaria of less than 72 h duration were randomized to receive a single dose of either famotidine 20 mg i.m. or diphenhydramine 50 mg i.m. Prior to treatment and 30 min after treatment, patients rated pruritus and sedation using visual analogue scales, while physicians evaluated intensity of urticaria and percentage of body surface area involved by urticaria. Famotidine was found to reduce pruritus associated with acute urticaria, intensity of urticaria, and body surface area affected by urticaria without causing sedation. Famotidine was comparable to diphenhydramine in efficacy; however, there was a (nonsignificant) trend for diphenhydramine to be more effective than famotidine in the treatment of pruritus, and for famotidine to be more effective in the reduction of surface area of involvement. It is concluded that famotidine merits further investigation as a potential medication for treatment of urticaria.

BACKGROUND:

Chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) is one of the most costly allergic conditions challenging physicians as well as patients and their families. Despite evident lacunae in the understanding of the pathogenesis, at least some findings suggest that psychosocial factors likely contribute to the development and exacerbation of CSU. We aim to assess the contribution of psychological factors to CSU.

METHODS:

Systematic search of PubMed and OVID/Medline databases was conducted from 1 January 1935 to 1 January 2012. Studies selected include original research in English, Spanish and French exploring the association between CSU and psychosocial factors. Two investigators independently reviewed all titles and abstracts to identify potentially relevant articles and resolved discrepancies by repeated review and discussion and arbitration of a third reviewer. Quality of systematic reviews and meta-analyses was assessed using a measure based on the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale and psychological conditions of CSU patients.

RESULTS:

We identified 114 eligible studies spanning 77 years and featuring 17 reviews, 67 studies related to neither CSU nor psychosocial factors, and eight studies that provided either no prevalence estimates or insufficient sample size. Pooling effect sizes using random effects, analyses revealed that, despite large heterogeneity (I(2) of 97.60%), psychosocial factors had a prevalence of 46.09% (95% confidence interval, 44.01%, 48.08%).

CONCLUSION:

Future research needs to better establish the contribution of psychosocial factors to the pathogenesis and exacerbation of CSU, and explore the possible benefit of behavioural interventions to the development of new management strategies.

The effects of oral cetirizine on spontaneous and provoked urticaria were evaluated in two studies. In a double-blind crossover trial, 30 patients with idiopathic urticaria received 10 or 20 mg of cetirizine or placebo. Cetirizine was significantly more effective than placebo in reducing the incidence of erythema, wheals, and pruritus. No serious side effects were reported. In the second study of ten patients with chronic urticaria, immediate and delayed reactions to injected autologous serum, histamine, kallikrein, and synthetic platelet-activating factor (PAF)-acether were inhibited by 10 mg of cetirizine. These results suggest that the mechanism of action of cetirizine may involve inhibition of PAF-induced influx of eosinophils.

Chronic urticaria can result from multiple causes. A number of factors have been identified that can appear to be important in the pathogenesis of individual cases, including intolerance to food, drugs, some internal diseases and some infections. Recently a possible relationship between chronic urticaria and Helicobacter pylori has been suggested. One hundred and twenty-five patients were investigated for Helicobacter pylori infection by means of ELISA assay and 13C urea-breath tests. When the two tests were positive, gastric biopsy was performed after informed consent. Patients with Helicobacter pylori infection were randomly assigned to receive triple therapy for the eradication of bacterium for one week, or no treatment. As controls, 25 patients with chronic urticaria and with negative results on ELISA and urea-breath tests were treated with the same triple therapy course. Forty-six unrelated blood donors of both sexes were examined for the presence of anti-Helicobacter pylori antibodies in the normal population. Seventy-eight patients had circulating specific IgG antibodies against the bacterium and positive urea-breath tests. Among these patients, 31 received eradication therapy, 34 were enrolled in the control group, and 13 patients neglected the study. Three patients in the eradication therapy group showed complete remission of urticaria after 12 months of follow-up as compared with 1 patient in the control group. Twenty blood donors out of 46 were IgG anti-Helicobacter pylori positive. In conclusion, our data show that the prevalence of Helicobacter pylori infection is high in chronic urticaria patients, but eradication of the bacterium does not appear to influence the skin disorders nor the symptoms.

Tradicionalmente se han empleado los antihistaminicos bloqueadores de los receptores H1 de la histamina en el tratamiento de la urticaria cronica. Con el descubrimiento de los receptores H2 de la histamina, se ha comprobado que estos tambien tienen participacion en los efectos de la histamina en los cuadros de este tipo de dermatosis.Evaluamos el efecto de la cimetidina, bloqueador de los receptores H2 de la histamina en un estudio doble ciego en 30 pacientes con diagnostico de urticaria cronica entre los 15 y 45 anos de edad, encontrando resultados alentadores para su uso

FUNDAMENTO:

la urticaria acuagénica es una rara forma de presentación de las urticarias físicas.

OBJETIVO:

describir el cuadro clínico y conducta a seguir de la urticaria acuagénica en una lactante.

CASO CLÍNICO:

lactante blanca, femenina de siete meses. Refieren los padres que desde su nacimiento comenzó la aparición de pequeñas ronchas en el tronco, brazos y piernas, que coincidían con el horario del baño, desaparecían a los 30-60 minutos posterior al mismo. A pesar de modificar el tipo de jabón y la temperatura del agua se mantenía el cuadro. Señalan que no le aparecen las lesiones de piel con el baño de mar. Los antecedentes atópicos familiares son positivos. Al bañarse la niña se comprueba la aparición de las lesiones de piel. Se diagnosticó la presencia de urticaria acuagénica y se prescribió tratamiento con antihistamínicos con una buena evolución del cuadro.

CONCLUSIONES:

la urticaria acuagénica es poco frecuente en lactantes, de su correcto diagnóstico y tratamiento, depende la buena evolución, así como la vida del paciente que puede verse comprometida por acompañarse esta de manifestaciones extracutáneas.

Introducción: Amiodarona es un fármaco antiarrítmico utilizado para tratar las arritmias ventriculare y supraventriculare. Material y métodos: Presentarno el caso de un paciente con urticaria tras la administración de amiodarona. Se le realizan pruebas cutáneas en prick y una posterior prueba de provocación a simple ciego controlada con placebo con dicho fármaco. Resultados: La prueba cutánea en prick con amiodarona fue negativa. La prueba de provocación con amiodarona se le realizó administrándole dosis progresivas del fármaco con lo que a lo S minutos de recibir 30mg presentó prurito en las extremidades con eritema. calor y habones en la espalda y la axilas. Conclusiones: Presentamos el primer caso descrito en la literatura de urticaria inmediata tras la administración de amiodarona. El diagnóstico se alcanzó mediante una anarnnesis detallada y una prueba de provocación oral positiva (AU)

La sensibilización y las manifestaciones alérgicas al maní se han incrementado últimamente a nivel mundial, constituyendo el mismo la causa principal de anafilaxia por alimentos. Como la prevalencia de alergia al maní varía de acuerdo a las regiones nos propusimos evaluar, en una etapa preliminar, la sensibilización al maní por pruebas cutáneas (“skin prick test”) en pacientes venezolanos atópicos y/o con urticarias que acudieron a la Consulta ambulatoria de Alergía del Instituto de Inmunología. El 5,4 % de los pacientes manifestó algún tipo de manifestación cutánea o respiratoria al ingerir maní. Se demostró sensibilización al maní por pruebas cutánea en el 6,5 % de los pacientes. Sin embargo, un porcentaje pequeño (2 %) de ellos mostró, en conjunto, pruebas cutáneas positivas y síntomas a la ingesta del maní. Ningún paciente refirió síntomas severos tras la ingestión de maní. La mayoría de los pacientes con pruebas positivas al maní, también mostraron pruebas positivas a otros alimentos. Estos resultados concuerdan con la percepción de los médicos venezolanos de una baja frecuencia de reacciones adversas, especialmente graves, a la ingesta de maní en nuestro país

Background. Some studies have shown the possible involvement of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection in chronic urticaria, but the relationship remains controversial. The aim of this meta-analysis was to quantitatively assess the association between H. pylori infection and chronic urticaria. Methods. Observational studies comparing the prevalence of H. pylori infection in patients with chronic urticaria and control subjects were identified through a systematic search in MEDLINE and EMBASE up to July 2014. H. pylori infection was confirmed by serological or nonserological tests. For subgroup analyses, studies were separated by region, publication year, and H. pylori detection method to screen the potential factors resulting in heterogeneity. Results. 16 studies involving 965 CU cases and 1235 controls were included. Overall, the prevalence of H. pylori infection was higher in urticarial patients than in controls (OR = 1.66; 95% CI.: 1.12-2.45; P = 0.01). This result persisted in subanalysis of nine high-quality studies (OR = 1.36; 95% CI.: 1.03-1.80; P = 0.03). Subgroup analysis showed that detection method of H. pylori is also a potential influential factor for the overall results. Conclusions. Our present meta-analysis suggests that H. pylori infection is significantly, though weakly, associated with an increased risk of chronic urticaria.