title: Serum interleukin-18 in patients with chronic ordinary urticaria: association with disease activity.
abstract: Interleukin (IL)-18 is a pleiotropic cytokine, which may play a role in autoimmune and allergic disorders. Serum IL-18 levels were measured in 34 patients with chronic ordinary urticaria (COU) and 17 normal subjects. In vivo and in vitro assays for histamine-releasing factors, an autologous serum skin test (ASST) and a basophil histamine release assay were also performed for all patients with COU. Serum IL-18 concentration was not significantly different between patients with COU and normal subjects (mean+/-standard error of the mean 246.47+/-18.40 pg/mL vs. 213.88+/-22.24 pg/mL), and no significant difference was found between ASST-positive and ASST-negative patients. However, in ASST-positive patients, IL-18 levels paralleled clinical severity scores and showed a tendency to correlate with in vitro histamine release. The increased IL-18 levels in the ASST-positive patients with most active chronic urticaria may reflect stronger immune system activation and possibly an involvement of IL-18 as a direct histamine-releasing factor.
authors.affiliation: Allergy and Clinical Immunology Unit, Hospital Maggiore Policlinico, Mangiagalli and Regina Elena, Fondazione IRCCS, Milan, Italy. albited@alice.it
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tedeschi
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lorini
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Suli
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Asero
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D020382:Interleukin-18 / Q000097:blood* / Q000276:immunology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012882:Skin Tests / Q000379:methods; D014581:Urticaria / Q000097:blood* / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D020382:Interleukin-18