Allergy Asthma Immunol Res.  2012 Nov;4(6):357-361. 10.4168/aair.2012.4.6.357.

Effects of Omalizumab Treatment in Patients With Refractory Chronic Urticaria

• Nam YH
• Kim JH
• Jin HJ
• Hwang EK
• Shin YS
• Ye YM
• Park HS

• KMID: 2167026
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4168/aair.2012.4.6.357

Abstract

PURPOSE
Chronic urticaria (CU) is a common and debilitating disease, and the need for effective treatment has increased. Omalizumab may be an alternative regimen in patients with CU who do not respond to conventional treatments. The aim of this study is to investigate the efficacy and to observe the clinical results of omlizumab in patients with refractory CU.
METHODS
We conducted a retrospective analysis of 26 patients with refractory CU who were treated with omalizumab. Omalizumab was administered every 2 or 4 weeks, depending on body weight and the total serum IgE level, for 24 weeks.
RESULTS
Fourteen patients (53.8%) achieved remission after the treatment; they had a significantly higher prevalence of personal (P=0.033) and family history of allergic diseases (P=0.002) than those who did not achieve remission. During omalizumab treatment, the urticaria activity score declined significantly (12.11+/-1.97 to 2.7+/-4.23; P=0.001) and the CU-quality of life score improved significantly (34.65+/-13.58 to 60.88+/-11.11; P=0.004). There were significant decreases in the use of systemic steroids (42.3%-11.5%; P=0.027) and immunomodulators (65.4%-19.2%; P=0.002). The dose of antihistamines required to control CU also decreased significantly (215.66+/-70.06 to 60.85+/-70.53 mg/week of loratadine equivalents; P<0.001). No serious adverse event was noted.
CONCLUSIONS
These findings suggest that omalizumab can be an effective and safe treatment in patients with refractory CU.

Keyword

Chronic urticaria; refractory; omalizumab

MeSH Terms

Antibodies, Anti-Idiotypic
Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized
Body Weight
Histamine Antagonists
Humans
Immunoglobulin E
Immunologic Factors
Loratadine
Prevalence
Retrospective Studies
Steroids
Urticaria
Omalizumab
Antibodies, Anti-Idiotypic
Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized
Histamine Antagonists
Immunoglobulin E
Immunologic Factors
Loratadine
Steroids

Figure

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  Fig. 1 Changes in urticaria activity score and chronic urticaria-specific quality of life score during IgE antibody (omalizumab) treatment.

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  Fig. 2 Change in H1-antihistamine requirement during IgE antibody treatment.

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  Fig. 3 Clinical courses of the subjects.

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