Tacrolimus in the treatment of severe chronic idiopathic urticaria: an open-label prospective study.
We report the result of a pilot study of low-dose tacrolimus for the treatment of patients with severe chronic idiopathic urticaria (CIU). Nineteen patients with severe CIU were treated with tacrolimus for 12 weeks. Two patients dropped out after 1 week of treatment because of side effects. Following 3 months of treatment, 12 of 17 patients (70.5%) had a clinical response to tacrolimus. In 9 patients, the urticaria had been improved significantly (urticarial score 0-1), enabling them to discontinue antihistamines and, in the case of two patients, corticosteroids. The remaining 3 patients had moderate improvement (urticarial score 2). Three months after the discontinuation of tacrolimus, 3 of 10 responders had a complete resolution of their urticaria (urticarial score 0), 3 had mild deterioration (urticarial score 1-2) controllable by antihistamines alone, and 4 patients had a full relapse (urticarial score 3). Our preliminary results suggest tacrolimus as a treatment option for patients with severe CIU.
Kessel
Aharon
A
Division of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Bnai Zion Medical Center, Haifa, Israel. aharon.kessel@b-zion.org.il <aharon.kessel@b-zion.org.il>
Bamberger
Ellen
E
Toubi
Elias
E
D000328:Adult; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D016559:Tacrolimus / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D014581:Urticaria / Q000188:drug therapy*
D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents; D016559:Tacrolimus