Burden of chronic urticaria relative to psoriasis in five European countries

Quality of life measurement in urticaria: Position statement of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology Task Forces on Quality of Life and Patient-Oriented Outcomes and Urticaria and Angioedema

The European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology (EADV) Task Forces on quality of life (QoL) and patient-oriented outcomes and on urticaria and angioedema recommendations for the assessment of Health-related (HR) QoL in all patients with urticaria in research and practice are as follows: to use the DLQI for adults and the CDLQI for children as dermatology-specific and the CU-Q2oL as a disease-specific HRQoL instruments in urticaria; to use generic instruments to provide comparison of data on urticaria with non-dermatologic diseases, or to compare with healthy volunteers or the general population; to select validated HRQoL instruments with appropriate age limits; to present exact numeric data for HRQoL results; correct title of any HRQoL instrument should be used, along with its correct abbreviation and the reference to its original publication, where possible. The EADV TFs discourage the use of non-validated HRQoL instruments and modified HRQoL instruments that have not undergone standard validation.

Global, regional, and national levels and trends in burden of urticaria: A systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease study 2019

Background

Urticaria places a significant burden on individuals and society due to its widespread nature. The aim of this study was to evaluate the burden of urticaria in different regions and nations by analysing data from the Global Burden of Disease study 2019 (GBD 2019), with the goal of providing information to health care policymakers.

Methods

By utilising data from the GBD 2019 database, this study analysed metrics such as incidence, prevalence, disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), age-standardised rate (ASR), and estimated annual percentage changes (EAPC) globally and across 204 countries and regions. The data was further stratified by age, sex, and sociodemographic index (SDI).

Results

In 2019, global incidence cases, prevalence cases, and overall disease burden as measured by DALYs all increased. The distribution of the burden exhibited marked geographical heterogeneity. At the regional level, the burden is highest in Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia, with the strongest growth in South Asia, compared with a decline in the high-income Asia Pacific. At the country level, Nepal reports the highest burden of urticaria, while Portugal has the lowest. Gender and age analyses showed that the burden of urticaria is higher in females than in males, with urticaria cases declining with age, especially in children, and picking up among the elderly. The study also finds a correlation between the burden of urticaria and the SDI, with the central part of the SDI showing a consistent increasing trend.

Conclusion

This study found that the global burden of urticaria has risen from 1990 to 2019. Factors like geographic location, gender, and SDI influenced the urticaria burden. Overall, these results offer a resource to guide public health strategies seeking to reduce the burden of urticaria.

Immunopathogenesis of urticaria: a clinical perspective on histamine and cytokine involvement

BACKGROUND

Urticaria is a clinical condition characterized by the appearance of wheals (hives), angioedema, or both. Over the last several decades, a better understanding of the mechanisms at play in the immunopathogenesis of urticaria has underscored the existence of numerous urticaria subtypes. Separating the different kinds of urticaria explicitly helps find the best detection method for the management of this skin disorder. Subtypes of urticaria also include both spontaneous and physical types. The conventional ones include spontaneous urticaria, constituting both acute and chronic urticaria. Therefore, a broad and effective therapy is essential for the diagnosis and treatment of urticaria.

METHODS

To understand the immunopathogenesis of urticaria, various databases, including PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science, were used to retrieve original articles and reviews related to urticaria. While information on several clinical trials were obtained from clinicaltrials.gov database.

RESULTS

This article highlights the immunopathogenesis involved in the intricate interaction between cellular infiltration, immune reactions, coagulation cascades, and autoantibodies that underlie urticaria's pathophysiology.

CONCLUSION

The recent progress in understanding urticaria can help to understand the intricate characteristics in the immunopathogenesis of urticaria and could play a beneficial role in the management of urticaria.

Lin-CD117+CD34+FcεRI+ progenitor cells are increased in chronic spontaneous urticaria and predict clinical responsiveness to anti-IgE therapy

BACKGROUND

Chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) is a common, debilitating skin disorder characterized by recurring episodes of raised, itchy and sometimes painful wheals lasting longer than 6 weeks. CSU is mediated by mast cells which are absent from peripheral blood. However, lineage-CD34hiCD117int/hiFcεRI+ cells in blood have previously been shown to represent a mast cell precursor.

METHODS

We enumerated FcεRI-, FcεRI+ and FcεRIhi lineage-CD34+CD117+ cells using flow cytometry in blood of patients with CSU (n = 55), including 12 patients receiving omalizumab and 43 not receiving omalizumab (n = 43). Twenty-two control samples were studied. Disease control and patient response to omalizumab was evaluated using the urticaria control test. We performed single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-Seq) on lineage-CD34hiCD117hi blood cells from a subset of patients with CSU (n = 8) and healthy controls (n = 4).

RESULTS

CSU patients had more lineage-CD34+CD117+FcεRI+ blood cells than controls. Lineage-CD34+CD117+FcεRI+ cells were significantly higher in patients with CSU who had an objective clinical response to omalizumab when compared to patients who had poor disease control 90 days after initiation of omalizumab. scRNA-Seq revealed that lineage-CD34+CD117+FcεRI+ cells contained both lymphoid and myeloid progenitor lineages, with omalizumab responsive patients having proportionally more myeloid progenitors. The myeloid progenitor lineage contained small numbers of true mast cell precursors along with more immature FcεRI- and FcεRI+ myeloid progenitors.

CONCLUSION

Increased blood CD34+CD117+FcεRI+ cells may reflect enhanced bone marrow egress in the setting of CSU. High expression of these cells strongly predicts better clinical responses to the anti-IgE therapy, omalizumab.

Impact of Chronic Spontaneous or Inducible Urticaria on Occupational Activity

The impact of chronic urticaria on work has been scarcely reported, whereas its peak incidence is between the ages of 20 and 40. The aim of this study was to assess the occupational impact of chronic urticaria and its treatment, by combining objective and patient-reported data. A monocentric observational study was performed using questionnaires over a 1-year period from 2021 to 2022 in chronic urticaria patients who were in a period of professional activity and agreed to participate. Of the 88 patients included, 55.7% assessed the occupational impact of their chronic urticaria as significant, and even more severe when chronic urticaria was poorly controlled. Some 86% of patients had symptoms at work, in a third of cases aggravated by work. However, occupational physical factors were not associated with an aggravation of inducible chronic urticaria. A total of 20% reported treatment-related adverse effects affecting their work. Despite low absenteeism, presenteeism and reduced productivity were important (> 20%). Six patients (6.8%) had difficulties keeping their work. For 72.7% of the patients, the occupational physician was not informed. The occupational impact of chronic urticaria should be discussed during consultations, particularly when it is insufficiently controlled. The occupational physician should be informed in order to support patients' professional project.

Acupuncture for Patients with Chronic Spontaneous Urticaria: A Randomized, Sham-Controlled Pilot Trial

OBJECTIVE

To determine the feasibility of conducting a full-scale randomized controlled trial (RCT) and investigate the basic information and safety of acupuncture for patients with chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU).

METHODS

A total of 80 participants with CSU from July 2018 to July 2019 were randomly assigned to receive active acupuncture (n=41) on a fixed prescription of acupoints or sham acupuncture (n=39) with superficial acupuncture on non-acupuncture points through the completely randomized design. Patients in both groups received 5 sessions per week for 2 weeks, and participants were followed for a further 2 weeks. Feasibility was assessed by recruitment and randomization rates, retention of participants, treatment protocol adherence, and the incidence of adverse events (AEs). The clinical primary outcome was the changes from baseline weekly urticaria activity scores (UAS7) after treatment at 2 weeks. Secondary outcomes included the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) score of itching intensity, Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI), Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMD), and Hamilton Anxiety Scale (HAMA).

RESULTS

A total of 80 participants were enrolled. The recruitment rate of 24.02%, randomization rate of 100%, a loss rate of 6.25%, and no obvious AEs were observed in either group. The decrease from baseline in the mean UAS7 total score at week 2 in the active acupuncture group was -8.63 (95%CI, -11.78 to -5.49) and -6.21 (95%CI, -9.43 to -2.98) in the sham acupuncture group for a between-group difference of -2.42 (95% CI, -6.93 to 2.07). The change in the DLQI, VAS of itching intensity, HAMA, and HAMD were a slightly better improvement trend in the active acupuncture group than the sham acupuncture group, but the between-group difference was not significant.

CONCLUSIONS

Active acupuncture had a better improvement trend in alleviating symptoms, improving quality of life and regulating the mood of anxiety and depression in patients with CSU than sham acupuncture. (Registration Nos. AMCTR-ICR-18000190 and ChiCTR2100054776).

Assessing Quality of Life in Patients With Chronic Urticaria Through Comparisons With Patients Having Other Common Chronic Diseases

BACKGROUND

Chronic urticaria (CU) is a common chronic inflammatory disease, but the burden on quality of life (QOL) has been underestimated.

OBJECTIVE

To compare QOL among patients with CU and those with other chronic diseases.

METHODS

Adult patients who visited a referral hospital for CU were enrolled. Patients completed self-reported questionnaires including clinical characteristics of chronic urticaria and the short form 36 health survey. As a comparative group, patients with rheumatoid arthritis, patients with diabetes treated with insulin, patients on maintenance hemodialysis, and healthy controls were enrolled and completed the short form 36 health survey.

RESULTS

In all, 119 patients with CU were enrolled and their short form 36 scores were not significantly different from those of healthy controls. However, patients with CU with poor responses to treatment showed impaired QOL to a degree similar to that of patients with rheumatoid arthritis or insulin-treated diabetes. The patients with CU showed various clinical characteristics with respect to treatment response, accompanying symptoms, and aggravating factors. Among these factors, pain at the urticarial lesion and symptom aggravation during exercise and after the consumption of certain foods were related with lower QOL.

CONCLUSIONS

Patients with CU with an incomplete response to treatment had significantly low QOL, comparable to that of patients with rheumatoid arthritis or insulin-treated diabetes. To minimize this effect, clinicians should aim to control symptoms and aggravating factors.

Causal relationship between gut microbiota and urticaria: a bidirectional two-sample mendelian randomization study

Background

Cumulative evidence showed an association between gut microbiota and urticaria, but the causal relationship between them is unclear. We aimed to verify whether there is a causal relationship between the composition of gut microbiota and urticaria and explore whether the causal effect was bidirectional.

Methods

We obtained genome-wide association studies (GWAS) summary data of 211 gut microbiota and urticaria from the most extensive available GWAS database. A bidirectional two-sample mendelian randomization (MR) study was used to test the causal relationship between the gut microbiota and urticaria. The MR analysis was primarily performed with the inverse variance weighted (IVW) method, and MR-Egger, weighted median (WM), and MR-PRESSO were performed as sensitivity analyses.

Results

The Phylum Verrucomicrobia (OR 1.27, 95%CI 1.01 to 1.61; p = 0.04), Genus Defluviitaleaceae UCG011 (OR 1.29, 95%CI 1.04 to 1.59; p = 0.02), and Genus Coprococcus 3 (OR 1.44, 95%CI 1.02 to 2.05; p = 0.04) was a risk effect against urticaria. And Order Burkholderiales (OR 0.68, 95%CI 0.49 to 0.99; p = 0.04) and Genus Eubacterium xylanophilum group (OR 0.78, 95%CI 0.62 to 0.99; p = 0.04) were negatively associated with urticaria, suggesting a protective effect. At the same time, urticaria had a positively causal effect on gut microbiota (Genus Eubacterium coprostanoligenes group) (OR 1.08, 95%CI 1.01 to 1.16; p = 0.02). These findings showed no influence by heterogeneity or horizontal pleiotropy. Moreover, most sensitivity analyses showed results consistent with those of IVW analysis.

Conclusion

Our MR study confirmed the potential causal relationship between gut microbiota and urticaria, and the causal effect was bidirectional. Nevertheless, these findings warrant further examination owing to the unclear mechanisms.

Apremilast Use in Severe Psoriasis: Real-World Data from Central and Eastern Europe

INTRODUCTION

The broad and sustained efficacy of apremilast for psoriasis has been demonstrated in randomized and real-world observational studies. Data from Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) are lacking. Moreover, apremilast use in this region is limited by country-specific reimbursement criteria. This is the first study to report data on the real-world use of apremilast in the region.

METHODS

APPRECIATE (NCT02740218) was an observational, retrospective, cross-sectional study assessing psoriasis patients 6 (± 1) months after apremilast treatment initiation. The study aimed to describe the characteristics of patients with psoriasis receiving apremilast, estimate treatment outcomes, including Psoriasis Area Severity Index (PASI), Body Surface Area (BSA), and Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI), and assess dermatologists' and patients' perspectives on treatment using questionnaires including the Patient Benefit Index (PBI). Adverse event reports were taken from the medical records.

RESULTS

Fifty patients (Croatia: 25; Czech Republic: 20; Slovenia: 5) were enrolled. In patients continuing apremilast at 6 (± 1) months, mean (± SD) PASI score was reduced from 16.2 ± 8.7 points at treatment initiation to 3.1 ± 5.2 at 6 (± 1) months; BSA from 11.9% ± 10.3% to 0.8% ± 0.9%; DLQI from 13.7 ± 7.4 points to 1.6 ± 3.2. PASI 75 was reached by 81% of patients. Physicians reported that the overall treatment success fulfilled their expectations in more than two thirds of patients (68%). At least three-quarters of patients reported apremilast had a quite or very high benefit on the needs they identified as being most important. Apremilast was well tolerated; no serious or fatal adverse events were identified.

CONCLUSION

Apremilast was effective in reducing skin involvement and improving quality of life in CEE patients having severe disease. Treatment satisfaction among physicians and patients was very high. These data add to the growing body of evidence showing consistent effectiveness of apremilast across the continuum of psoriasis disease severity and manifestations.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

ClinicalTrials.gov identifier, NCT02740218.

Association of Chronic Urticaria with Psychological Distress: A Multicentre Cross-sectional Study

Chronic urticaria is a debilitating disease that affects health-related quality of life, but few studies have evaluated its impact on psychological wellbeing. The aim of this study was to evaluate the quality of life of patients with chronic urticaria and determine its impact on their emotional and psychological wellbeing. A cross-sectional multicentre study of a cluster of 264 Lebanese patients visiting dermatology/immunology clinics was conducted between July 2018 and June 2020. The impact of chronic urticaria on quality of life was assessed using the Chronic Urticaria Quality of Life Questionnaire (CU-Q2oL) and Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI), as well as its consequences on mood changes using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) and Beirut Distress Score 22 (BDS-22) scores. A multivariable analysis of covariates was performed to determine the effect of the triggering factors of urticaria on both CU-Q2oL and PHQ-9. A moderate negative correlation was found between Urticaria Control Test and quality of life scores as well as PHQ-9 and BDS-22 (p < 0.001). Patients with the lowest Urticaria Control Test score had the highest impairment in quality of life and depression scores. In conclusion, chronic urticaria compromises patients' quality of life and emotional wellbeing. This distress is more pronounced when the disease is more severe.

Psychological well-being, quality of life and patient satisfaction among adults with chronic spontaneous urticaria in a multi-ethnic Asian population

Patients with chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) have an increased risk of psychological distress. This cross-sectional study aimed to determine factors associated with psychological burden, quality of life (QoL) and patient satisfaction among adults living with CSU. Participants completed the self-administered Urticaria Activity Score-7 (UAS-7), Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS 21), Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI), and Short Assessment Patient Satisfaction (SAPS) questionnaires. Multivariate logistic regression was used to determine the independent predictors of depression, anxiety, stress, QoL and patient satisfaction. From a total of 115 subjects with a median age of 42.6 years, range (19-89 years). 60.9% subjects reported moderate-to-severe CSU, 26.1% reported symptoms of depression, 54.8% had anxiety, 40.0% had stress, and 36.5% reported severely impaired QoL. The median UAS-7 score was 20 (IQR 11-27) while the median score of DLQI was 8 (IQR 4-13). The median score of SAPS was 20 (IQR 17-21). Low-income and severe disease were the significant predictors for depression while severe disease was predictive of impaired QoL and depression. Subjects who were diagnosed at older ages and those who required medical leave due to flares of CSU were less likely to be satisfied with their care. (192 words).

Clinical Outcomes, Patient-Reported Outcomes, and Economic Burden for Thai People Living with Chronic Urticaria (CORE-CU) in routine practice: A study protocol for a monocentric prospective longitudinal study

BACKGROUND

Few prospective longitudinal studies have been conducted in Thailand to account for the long-term response to chronic urticaria (CU) treatment, clinical outcomes, and patient-reported outcomes (PROs) among people living with CU based on routine practice. As such, a prospective longitudinal study will be conducted to better understand the long-term responses to treatment options and the burden of disease in Thai CU patients.

METHODS AND DESIGN

This study is a routine clinical practice registry-based, monocentric, prospective, observational longitudinal study in the northern region of Thailand. Adult patients in an outpatient clinic diagnosed with CU, including both chronic spontaneous urticaria and chronic inducible urticaria will be recruited for this study. The cohort will be collected and registered using the joint routine clinical practice data based on multiple datasets including claims outpatient and inpatient data, routine laboratory results, medication utilization, health care costs, clinical characteristics, long-term urticaria care and monitoring, and PRO measures. The point prevalence of adverse health outcomes will be estimated and reported corresponding to 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs). The overall trend analysis will be analyzed to explore the effect of over time across the cohort time frame.

CONCLUSION

This prospective longitudinal study will report the clinical outcomes, PROs, and economic burden among Thai people living with CU based on routine clinical practice. Findings will provide comprehensive evidence and could facilitate best practices for CU care management for health care professionals, researchers, policymakers, and public society.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

Thai Clinical Trials Registry (TCTR, thaiclinicaltrials.org) registration TCTR20210706005. Registered on July 6, 2021.

Acupuncture and Related Therapies for Chronic Urticaria: A Critical Overview of Systematic Reviews

Background. Chronic urticaria (CU) can severely impair the quality of life. Acupuncture and related therapies have been widely used in the treatment of CU in China. This study aimed to summarize and critically evaluate the methodological and reporting quality of relevant systematic reviews (SRs) and present objective and comprehensive evidence on the effectiveness and safety of acupuncture and related therapies for CU. Methods. Eight electronic databases were searched from inception to October 2021 for SRs examining acupuncture and related therapies for CU, and gray literature was manually searched. Two authors independently identified SRs and extracted data. The methodological and reporting quality of these SRs were assessed by the Assessment of Multiple Systematic Reviews 2 (AMSTAR 2) tool and preferred reporting items for SRs and meta-analyses (PRISMA, 2020), respectively. In addition, the risk of bias in systematic reviews (ROBIS) was used to evaluate the risk of bias. The Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) framework was applied to evaluate the quality of evidence for outcome measures. Results. In total, 23 SRs, including a total of 11 outcome indicators, were published before October 2021. The AMSTAR-2 results showed that the methodological quality of all SRs was critically low; items 2, 3, 7, 9, 10, and 16 were found to have particularly low quality. For PRISMA, the reporting quality of the included SRs was unsatisfactory, and major reporting flaws were observed in the search strategy, synthesis method, certainly assessment, reporting biases, registrations, and financial support of the included SRs. For ROBIS, 22 SRs (95.65%) had a high risk of bias. Among the 55 outcomes assessed using the GRADE framework, there were 3 (5.45%) outcomes with moderate-quality evidence, 6 (10.91%) outcomes with low-quality evidence, and 46 (83.64%) outcomes with very low-quality evidence. We found the moderate quality of evidence indicating that the total effective rate and curing rate of the acupuncture group were higher than those of the western medicine group, and the recurrence rate was lower than that of the western medicine group. Conclusions. Acupuncture and related therapies for the treatment of CU are supported by low-quality evidence-based medicine. However, considering the poor quality of these SRs, we suggest that studies with more rigorous designs, larger sample sizes, and higher methodological and reporting quality are necessary to provide stronger evidence. Registration. The protocol for this study has been registered (PROSPERO registration number: CRD42021259131).

Urticaria

Urticaria is an inflammatory skin disorder that affects up to 20% of the world population at some point during their life. It presents with wheals, angioedema or both due to activation and degranulation of skin mast cells and the release of histamine and other mediators. Most cases of urticaria are acute urticaria, which lasts ≤6 weeks and can be associated with infections or intake of drugs or foods. Chronic urticaria (CU) is either spontaneous or inducible, lasts >6 weeks and persists for >1 year in most patients. CU greatly affects patient quality of life, and is linked to psychiatric comorbidities and high healthcare costs. In contrast to chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU), chronic inducible urticaria (CIndU) has definite and subtype-specific triggers that induce signs and symptoms. The pathogenesis of CSU consists of several interlinked events involving autoantibodies, complement and coagulation. The diagnosis of urticaria is clinical, but several tests can be performed to exclude differential diagnoses and identify underlying causes in CSU or triggers in CIndU. Current urticaria treatment aims at complete response, with a stepwise approach using second-generation H1 antihistamines, omalizumab and cyclosporine. Novel treatment approaches centre on targeting mediators, signalling pathways and receptors of mast cells and other immune cells. Further research should focus on defining disease endotypes and their biomarkers, identifying new treatment targets and developing improved therapies.

Prevalence and Odds of Anxiety Disorders and Anxiety Symptoms in Children and Adults with Psoriasis: Systematic Review and Meta-analysi

The magnitude of the association between psoriasis and depression has been evaluated, but not that between psoriasis and anxiety. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to examine the prevalence and odds of anxiety disorders and symptoms in patients with psoriasis. Five medical databases (Cochrane Database, EMBASE, PubMed, PsychINFO, ScienceDirect) were searched for relevant literature. A total of 101 eligible articles were identified. Meta-analysis revealed different prevalence rates depending on the type of anxiety disorder: 15% [95% confidence interval [CI] 9–21] for social anxiety disorder, 11% [9–14] for generalized anxiety disorder, and 9% [95% CI 8–10] for unspecified anxiety disorder. There were insufficient studies assessing other anxiety disorders to be able to draw any conclusions on their true prevalence. Meta-analysis also showed a high prevalence of anxiety symptoms (34% [95% CI 32–37]). Case-control studies showed a positive association between psoriasis and unspecified anxiety disorder (odds ratio 1.48 [1.18; 1.85]) and between psoriasis and anxiety symptoms (odds ratio 2.51 [2.02; 3.12]). All meta-analyses revealed an important heterogeneity, which could be explained in each case by methodological factors. The results of this study raise the necessity of screening for the presence of anxiety disorders, as previously recommended for depressive disorders, in patients with psoriasis and, if necessary, to refer such patients for evaluation by a mental health professional and appropriate treatment.

Treatment Patterns and Clinical Outcomes of Chronic Urticaria: Two-year Follow-up Results from the Scandinavian AWARE Study

The AWARE (A World-wide Antihistamine-Refractory chronic urticaria patient Evaluation) study investigated outcomes in patients with chronic urticaria refractory to H1-antihistamine. The objective of the current study was to analyse the effects of treatment on patients’ symptoms and quality of life for a period of up to 2 years. Over the 2 years, there was clear improvement in the high rates of disease burden from baseline, as evidenced by lower scores for disease severity scales, better quality of life, and a decreasing rate of medical resource utilization. However, this is the result of treatment adherence to the guidelines in highly specialized Scandinavian urticaria centres, and has its basis in the relatively low treatment intensity and control at enrolment. There is a need for greater adherence to the treatment guidelines and better management of antihistamine-refractory chronic urticaria.

Ligelizumab improves sleep interference and disease burden in patients with chronic spontaneous urticaria

BACKGROUND

Chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) negatively impacts patients' sleep, thereby reducing health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Half of patients with inadequately controlled CSU report sleep interference often or every night, which can lead to depression, anxiety, social, and work-related problems.

METHODS

This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase 2b core study (NCT02477332) included adult patients ≥18 years with moderate to severe CSU inadequately controlled with H1 -antihistamines. The current analysis includes patients randomized to receive ligelizumab 72 or 240 mg, omalizumab 300 mg or placebo every 4 weeks (q4w) for five injections over 20 weeks with treatment-free follow-up for 24 weeks. Patients could enter the open-label extension study (NCT02649218) from Week 32 onwards if their weekly urticaria activity score was ≥12, which included an open-label treatment (52 weeks of ligelizumab 240 mg q4w) and a 48-week post-treatment follow-up. Weekly Sleep Interference Scores (SIS7, range 0 [no interference]-21 [substantial interference]), Weekly Activity Interference Score (AIS7), Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) scores, and Overall Work Impairment were assessed.

RESULTS

Mean baseline SIS7 scores were balanced between the treatment arms for ligelizumab 72 mg (n = 84) and 240 mg (n = 85), omalizumab 300 mg (n = 85), and placebo (n = 43). By Week 12, patients experienced large improvements in sleep interference, with least square mean (standard error) changes from baseline (CFB) in SIS7 of -7.84 (0.58), -7.55 (0.61), -6.98 (0.60), and -5.85 (0.81), respectively. By Week 12, CFB in AIS7 were -8.25 (0.57), -8.25 (0.59), -7.30 (0.60), and -5.62 (0.79), DLQI scores were -9.79 (0.77), -9.93 (0.81), -8.35 (0.79), and -6.99 (1.11), and Overall Work Impairment scores were -28.96 (3.73), -30.76 (3.71), -25.74 (3.91), and -20.13 (5.10) for ligelizumab 72 and 240 mg, omalizumab 300 mg and placebo, respectively. Improvements in each patient-reported outcome were sustained with ligelizumab 240 mg treatment during the extension study.

CONCLUSIONS

Ligelizumab showed effective and sustained responses in managing sleep interference in patients with CSU, and numerically higher responses than with omalizumab and placebo. Treating the symptoms of CSU with ligelizumab improved disease burden, HRQoL, and markedly improved sleep quality.

A European survey of management approaches in chronic urticaria in children: EAACI pediatric urticaria taskforce

BACKGROUND

Although well described in adults, there are scarce and heterogeneous data on the diagnosis and management of chronic urticaria (CU) in children (0-18 years) throughout Europe. Our aim was to explore country differences and identify the extent to which the EAACI/GA²LEN/EDF/WAO guideline recommendations for pediatric urticaria are implemented.

METHODS

The EAACI Task Force for pediatric CU disseminated an online clinical survey among EAACI pediatric section members. Members were asked to answer 35 multiple choice questions on current practices in their respective centers.

RESULTS

The survey was sent to 2,773 physicians of whom 358 (13.8%) responded, mainly pediatric allergists (80%) and pediatricians (49.7%), working in 69 countries. For diagnosis, Southern European countries used significantly more routine tests (eg, autoimmune testing, allergological tests, and parasitic investigation) than Northern European countries. Most respondents (60.3%) used a 2^nd -generation antihistamine as first-line treatment of whom 64.8% updosed as a second line. Omalizumab was used as a second-line treatment by 1.7% and third line by 20.7% of respondents. Most clinicians (65%) follow EAACI/WAO/GA2LEN/EDF guidelines when diagnosing CU, and only 7.3% follow no specific guidelines. Some clinicians prefer to follow national guidelines (18.4%, mainly Northern European) or the AAAAI practice parameter (1.7%).

CONCLUSIONS

Even though most members of the Pediatric Section of EAACI are familiar with the EAACI/WAO/GA2LEN/EDF guidelines, a significant number do not follow them. Also, the large variation in diagnosis and treatment strengthens the need to re-evaluate, update, and standardize guidelines on the diagnosis and management of CU in children.

Impact of Pharmacological Treatments for Chronic Spontaneous Urticaria with an Inadequate Response to H1-Antihistamines on Health-Related Quality of Life: A Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis

BACKGROUND

Recently, pharmacological treatment options for H1-antihistamine-refractory chronic spontaneous urticaria have increased dramatically; however, their effects on patient-reported outcomes, including health-related quality of life (HRQOL), remain unclear.

OBJECTIVE

To compare the impact of these treatments on HRQOL among H1-antihistamine-refractory patients with chronic spontaneous urticaria.

METHODS

We completed a comprehensive search of the available literature in the electronic databases, gray literature, and preprint reports up to April 19, 2021, with no language restrictions. The primary outcome for evaluation was a change in HRQOL from the baseline, and secondary outcomes included patient unacceptability and other patient-reported outcomes. We used a random-effects network meta-analysis and estimated differences in standardized mean differences (SMDs) and odds ratios with 95% CIs. Evidence-based synthesis was based on magnitudes of effect size, evidence certainty, ranking of treatment effects, and clinically meaningful improvement.

RESULTS

Twelve randomized controlled trials encompassing 1866 adolescent and adult patients were included. Our evidence synthesis analyses revealed that hydroxychloroquine (SMD, -1.00 [-1.61 to -0.39]), 72 mg ligelizumab (SMD, -0.66 [-0.96 to -0.35]), 240 mg ligelizumab (SMD, -0.67 [-0.98 to -0.37]), and 300 mg omalizumab (SMD, -0.53 [-0.67 to -0.39]) significantly improved HRQOL with a moderate beneficial effect. However, the use of hydroxychloroquine seems to be limited by a higher risk of patient unacceptability of treatment. Other secondary outcomes remain inconclusive based on the available evidence.

CONCLUSIONS

Both ligelizumab (72 or 240 mg) and 300 mg omalizumab appeared to be effective treatments for H1-antihistamine-refractory chronic spontaneous urticaria, because they were closely associated with improved HRQOL.

A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Health Utility Estimates in Chronic Spontaneous Urticaria

Background: Chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) is a common recurrent skin disease that adversely affect patient's quality of life condition to treat. Economic evaluations of health care often include patient preferences for health outcomes using utilities.

Objectives: The study aimed to determine pooled estimates of utility-based quality of life in patients with CSU.

Methods: We conducted a systematic review, meta-analysis, and meta-regression of peer-reviewed articles and conference papers that published from database inception to 31 April 2019 that reported utility estimates in patients with CSU. Scores reported with the EQ-5D, SF-6D, SF-12, and SF-36 instruments were converted to utilities using published mapping algorithms. Meta-analysis was used to calculate the pooled and meta-regression was used to examine the effects of possible factors.

Results: The pooled utility estimate for CSU was 0.68 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.67–0.70]. The pooled utility estimate that converted from SF-36 or SF-12 was 0.66 (95% CI: 0.58–0.74), 0.72 (95% CI: 0.70–0.74) for EQ-5D, and 0.65 (95% CI: 0.63–0.67) for SF-6D, respectively. According to the meta-regression, higher proportion of female patients was significantly associated lower utility estimates (p = 0.013).

Conclusions: The study provides evidence-based utility estimates to inform health-related burden analysis of CSU and reference for the follow-up cost-effectiveness evaluation of chronic spontaneous urticaria intervention. These results highlight differences in common utility-based instruments and need to be cognizant of the specific instruments used when comparing the results of outcome studies.

Moxibustion therapy for chronic spontaneous urticaria: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) is a common disease in clinical, and often recrudescent. However, sometimes Western medicine treatments such as antihistamines cannot completely control the symptoms of CSU; therefore, more effective and optimized treatments are needed. Numerous studies have confirmed that moxibustion therapy is effective in treating CSU. Given that no relevant systematic reviews and meta-analysis have been carried out, we set out to prove the effect of moxibustion therapy for CSU.

METHODS

This protocol will be conducted based on the PRISMA-P guidelines and comply with the recommendations of the Cochrane Collaboration Handbook for Systematic Reviews. We plan to search the subsequent databases: PubMed, Web of Science, EMBASE.com and Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, WanFang Database, Chinese Science Journal Database, and China Biomedical Literature Database. The studies will be screened under the eligibility criterion. The quality of the studies will be assessed based on the Cochrane risk bias tool. Ultimately, Review Manager 5.3 will be used for statistical analysis.

RESULTS

This research will comprehensively evaluate the effectiveness of moxibustion therapy for CSU, and provide a more reasonable and effective treatment plan for CUS.

CONCLUSION

This research will bring new evidence for the efficacy of moxibustion therapy in the treatment of CSU and provide a basis for future clinical applications.

INPLASY REGISTRATION NUMBER

INPLASY2020100045.

Autologous blood or autologous serum acupoint injection therapy for psoriasis vulgaris: A protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Psoriasis vulgaris (PV) is a refractory and relapsing skin disease that affects the physical and mental health of patients and leads to poor quality of life. Current conventional systemic therapy shows a large side effect, which can not be used for a long time, easy to relapse after drug withdrawal, long-term efficacy is poor. At present, traditional Chinese medicine treatment of psoriasis vulgaris effective, can alleviate symptoms, improve the quality of life, stabilize the condition, prolong the remission period. Whereas, there is no related systematic review and meta-analysis. Thus, we intend to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis to testify autologous blood or autologous serum acupoint injection therapy for Psoriasis Vulgaris.

METHODS

Our systematic review will search all randomized controlled trials for autologous blood therapy of PV, electronically and manually, regardless of publication status and language, until March 19, 2020. Databases include PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, Cochrane Controlled Trials Register, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, China Biomedical Literature Database, Chinese Science Journal Database, and Wanfang database. Other sources, including reference lists of identified publications and meeting minutes, will also be searched. Manually search for grey literature, including unpublished conference articles.

RESULT

The main outcomes contain the variation of Psoriasis area and severity index, dermatology life quality index, itching score, the effective rate and adverse events from baseline to the end of studies. This study will provide a comprehensive review of the available evidence for the treatment of PV with this therapy.

CONCLUSION

We will summarize sufficient evidence to confirm the therapeutic effect and safety of autologous blood or autologous serum acupoint injection therapy for PV. Due to the data is not individualized, formal ethical approval is not required.

INPLASY REGISTRATION NUMBER

INPLASY202040052.

Clinically significant differences in patient-reported outcomes evaluations in chronic spontaneous urticaria

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

The aim of this review is to highlight the conceptual and practical knowledge for interpreting score changes in patient-reported outcomes (PROs) that have been validated for chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU).

RECENT FINDINGS

The urticaria guidelines recommends to assess PROs as Health-Related Quality of Life, disease activity and disease control, to detect the CSU impact and the overall treatment effect. To this aim it is crucial to determine the minimal important difference (MID) to assess if changes in questionnaire scores represent either perceived improvement or deterioration for patients. Methods for establishing the MID are well defined and are clustered into two broad categories: distribution-based and anchor-based.

SUMMARY

For the majority of the available questionnaires for CSU, an MID has been defined, according to the results of various approaches. In most of the studies in our review, anchor-based methods, either alone or in combination with distribution ones, were used. The available information regarding MIDs across validated tools for CSU patients helps to interpret measurement scores and allows the implementation of PROs in routine practices.

Urticaria: Collegium Internationale Allergologicum (CIA) Update 2020

This update on chronic urticaria (CU) focuses on the prevalence and pathogenesis of chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU), the expanding spectrum of patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) for assessing CU disease activity, impact, and control, as well as future treatment options for CU. This update is needed, as several recently reported findings have led to significant advances in these areas. Some of these key discoveries were first presented at past meetings of the Collegium Internationale Allergologicum (CIA). New evidence shows that the prevalence of CSU is geographically heterogeneous, high in all age groups, and increasing. Several recent reports have helped to better characterize two endotypes of CSU: type I autoimmune (or autoallergic) CSU, driven by IgE to autoallergens, and type IIb autoimmune CSU, which is due to mast cell (MC)-targeted autoantibodies. The aim of treatment in CU is complete disease control with absence of signs and symptoms as well as normalization of quality of life (QoL). This is best monitored by the use of an expanding set of PROMs, to which the Angioedema Control Test, the Cholinergic Urticaria Quality of Life Questionnaire, and the Cholinergic Urticaria Activity Score have recently been added. Current treatment approaches for CU under development include drugs that inhibit the effects of signals that drive MC activation and accumulation, drugs that inhibit intracellular pathways of MC activation and degranulation, and drugs that silence MCs by binding to inhibitory receptors. The understanding, knowledge, and management of CU are rapidly increasing. The aim of this review is to provide physicians who treat CU patients with an update on where we stand and where we will go. Many questions and unmet needs remain to be addressed, such as the development of routine diagnostic tests for type I and type IIb autoimmune CSU, the global dissemination and consistent use of PROMs to assess disease activity, impact, and control, and the development of more effective and well-tolerated long-term treatments for all forms of CU.

Efficacy and safety of acupuncture for patients with chronic urticaria: study protocol of a randomized, sham-controlled pilot trial

Background

Chronic urticaria (CU) is a refractory skin disease with long duration and a high recurrence rate. Acupuncture has been widely used for the treatment of CU in clinical practice in China. However, until now, there has been no appropriately designed randomized controlled trial (RCT) to provide explicit evidence about the effectiveness of acupuncture for the treatment of CU worldwide. Therefore, we plan to conduct a pilot study to explore its effectiveness and safety and determine the feasibility of studying acupuncture in a future, full-scale, RCT of CU.

Methods/design

This randomized, sham-controlled, participant-blinded and assessor-blinded pilot trial is underway in China. A total of 60 participants with CU will be randomly assigned to two groups in a 1:1 ratio: one treated with real acupuncture and the other with sham acupuncture, for 10 sessions over 2 weeks. The experimental group will receive acupuncture on a fixed prescription of acupoints, whereas the control group will receive sham acupuncture, namely minimal acupuncture on non-acupuncture points. The primary outcome will be the urticaria activity score (UAS). The secondary outcomes will include a visual analogue scale (VAS) score for itching intensity, the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI), the Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMD), the Hamilton Anxiety Scale (HAMA), the humoral immunity index, serum total IgE, and adverse events. The UAS, VAS for itching and the DLQI will be conducted at baseline and at 1, 2, 3, and 4 weeks after randomization. The HAMD, HAMA, humoral immunity index, and serum total IgE will be assessed at baseline and at 2 weeks after randomization. Adverse events will be summarized at 1 week and 2 weeks after randomization.

Discussion

The pilot study mainly aims to investigate trial feasibility, and confirm basic information about its effects and safety. Results of this trial will help clarify whether the acupuncture treatment is beneficial for symptom improvement in patients with CU. The finding of this study will provide preliminary evidence on the effectiveness and safety of acupuncture for CU.

Trial registration

Acupuncture-Moxibustion Clinical Trial Registry, AMCTR-ICR-18000190. Registered on 19 June 2018.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (10.1186/s13063-019-3433-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Acupoint catgut embedding for patients with chronic urticaria: A systematic review protocol

BACKGROUND

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of acupoint catgut embedding in the treatment of chronic urticaria (CU).

METHODS

We will electronically search PubMed, Medline, Embase, Web of Science, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Chinese Biomedical Literature Database, Chinese Scientific Journal Database, and Wan-Fang Database from their inception to March 2019. In addition, we will manually retrieve other resources including the reference lists of identified publications, conference articles, and gray literature. The clinical randomized controlled trials or quasi-randomized controlled trials related to acupoint catgut embedding for the treatment of CU will be included in the study. The language is limited to Chinese and English. Research selection, data extraction, and research quality assessment will be independently completed by 2 researchers. Data were synthesized by using a fixed effect model or random effect model depend on the heterogeneity test. The total effective rate was the primary outcomes. Skin disease quality of life index scores, adverse events, and recurrence rates will also be assessed as secondary outcomes. RevMan V.5.3 statistical software will be used for meta-analysis. If it is not appropriate for a meta-analysis, then a descriptive analysis will be conducted. Data synthesis will use the risk ratio and the standardized or weighted average difference of continuous data to represent the results.

RESULTS

This study will provide a high-quality synthesis to assess the effectiveness and safety of acupoint catgut embedding for patients with CU.

CONCLUSION

This systematic review will provide evidence to judge whether acupoint catgut embedding is an effective intervention for patients with CU.

SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION

PROSPERO, CRD42019129459.

Systematic reviews of pharmacological and nonpharmacological treatments for patients with chronic urticaria: An umbrella systematic review

A wide range of pharmacological and nonpharmacological interventions for chronic urticaria (CU) have been evaluated in systematic reviews (SRs). We conducted an umbrella review of SRs of the effectiveness and safety of pharmacological and nonpharmacological interventions for CU, which allow the findings of separate reviews to be compared and contrasted and thereby provide decision makers in healthcare with the evidence they need.We included SRs evaluating pharmacological and nonpharmacological interventions for CU. Comprehensive searches were conducted in 7 bibliographic databases, relevant journals up to July 2018. Two reviewers independently assessed the studies' relevance and quality. The assessment of multiple systematic reviews tool and grading of recommendations assessment, development and evaluation method was used to assess the methodological quality of the SRs and classify the quality of the outcomes.In total, 41 SRs were included. Thirty-seven reviews performed quantitative research syntheses, and 4 reviews performed qualitative research syntheses. The majority of SRs evaluated interventions based on combination therapies, antihistamines, traditional Chinese medicines, autohemotherapy, omalizumab, acupuncture, cyclosporine, and leukotriene receptor antagonist. Positive intervention outcomes were reported in the majority (75.32%) of the reviews. However, the methodological quality and evidence quality of the reviews were generally poor.There is some evidence to support a variety of interventions for CU. However, there was much heterogeneity in evidence quality among SRs. Many of the SRs had methodological weaknesses that make them vulnerable to bias. Moreover, there remained little information on the relative effectiveness of one intervention compared with another. Therefore, further SRs that adherence to strict scientific methods are necessary, and primary studies make comparisons between the different treatment options directly.

Psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the once-daily Urticaria Activity Score (UAS) in patients with chronic spontaneous urticaria managed in clinical practice (the EVALUAS study)

Background

The daily diary Urticaria Activity Score (UAS) and its weekly score (UAS7) are widely used to assess signs and symptoms in patients with chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU). The objective of this study was to assess the psychometric properties of a Spanish version of the once-daily UAS.

Methods

Observational study in patients ≥18 years old receiving usual care for CSU (daily or almost daily occurrence of generalized hives or angioedema for ≥6 weeks). Patients were included consecutively and completed the UAS, EQ-5D, and the Chronic Urticaria Quality of Life scale (CU-Q₂oL) at two study visits 6 weeks apart. On each occasion, the UAS was completed once-daily for 7 consecutive days to be able to calculate the UAS7 score. Psychometric properties of reliability, construct validity, and responsiveness were assessed. The Minimal Important Difference (MID) was estimated for the UAS7 using anchor- and distribution-based approaches.

Results

Data from 166 patients was available for analysis (mean age 49 years, 65.7% female). Floor (5.4% of patients with the lowest possible score) and ceiling (1.2%) effects were low; 15% of patients had missing values. Internal consistency and test-retest reliability were good (Cronbach’s alpha of 0.83 and an ICC of 0.84, respectively). Convergent validity was demonstrated through the pattern of correlations with the EQ-5D and CU-Q₂oL and known groups’ validity was demonstrated by the instrument’s ability to discriminate between patients with different overall levels of urticaria severity, with between-group effect-sizes (ES) ranging from 0.36 to 1.19. The UAS7 proved responsive to change with effect sizes ranging from 0.3 to 1.52 in patients reporting improvement or deterioration in overall urticaria status. The MID for the UAS7 score was estimated at 7–8 points, on a scale of 0–42.

Conclusions

The Spanish version of the UAS score has demonstrated a robust psychometric performance in patients with CSU managed in conditions of usual care. It can therefore be considered a suitable instrument to assess disease activity in clinical practice in Spanish-speaking patients. The Spanish version’s reliability and validity are similar to those reported for other language versions of the once- and twice-daily variants of the UAS.

Higher Levels of Depression and Anxiety in Patients with Chronic Urticaria

Background

Chronic urticaria (CU) is a common disease, characterized by the development of wheals, angioedema, or both. CU reduces quality of life and can also cause emotional distress. Studies addressing depression and anxiety in such patients are rare in the literature. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between urticaria symptoms and depression and anxiety in patients with CU.

Material/Methods

The Hospital Anxiety-Depression Scale (HADS) was used to evaluate depression and anxiety in patients with CU. We included 50 patients with CU and a control group of 60 healthy volunteers. Urticaria activity score, medications, age, sex, comorbidities, occupation, and income of patients were recorded. Depression and anxiety scores were evaluated between the patient and the healthy groups.

Results

The HADS questionnaire showed that 24 (48%) subjects in the patient group had depressive symptoms and 24 (48%) had anxiety, and both of these conditions were significantly more frequent than in controls (p=0.002 and p=0.001). The mean anxiety and depression scores ±SD were 10.82±4.29 and 7.74±4.49 in the patient group and 6.42±3.02 and 4.85±3.26, in the control group respectively (p=0.001). The mean score of the UAS ±SD was 23.14±13.40 and a significant positive correlation between UAS and the anxiety and depression scores was observed (r=0.400; p=0.004 and r=0.373; p=0.004, respectively).

Conclusions

Our data demonstrated that depression and anxiety symptoms are more common in patients with CU than in the control group. Therefore, we should pay attention to the potential of mental comorbidities while managing patients with CU.

Impact of chronic urticaria on quality of life and work in Japan: Results of a real-world study

Little attention has been given to the burden of chronic urticaria (CU) in Japan compared with other skin diseases, such as atopic dermatitis (AD) and psoriasis. The primary objective of the RELEASE study was to evaluate the real‐life quality‐of‐life impairment in CU patients in Japan. Data were collected from 1443 urticaria, 1668 AD and 435 psoriatic patients; 552 urticaria patients who presented urticaria symptoms for over 6 weeks were defined as CU. The mean Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) total score was 4.8, 6.1 and 4.8 in CU, AD and psoriatic patients, respectively. Disease control of urticaria evaluated by the Urticaria Control Test (UCT) and DLQI exhibited a strong correlation with a Spearman's rank correlation coefficient of −0.7158. CU and AD patients had relatively higher scores in all Work Productivity and Activity Impairment – General Health subscales except for absenteeism. At the time of the survey, approximately 64% of CU patients reported UCT scores of <12 and demonstrated higher work productivity loss and activity impairment versus patients with UCT scores of ≥12. Patients with lower UCT scores also displayed a higher percentage of dissatisfaction with their health state and the treatment they received. Approximately 85% of patients with CU had visited dermatology clinics, and less than 20% had visited hospital, indicating existence of a highly burdened population outside specialized centers. These results highlight the unmet medical needs of CU patients, suggesting the need to increase awareness of CU burden among both physicians and patients and to pursue improved real‐life patient care.