title: Neurotrophins: are they meaningful in chronic spontaneous urticaria?
abstract: Plasma neurotrophin levels are elevated in patients with allergic and autoimmune diseases. The present study was designed to investigate the serum neurotrophin levels in 42 patients displaying chronic spontaneous urticaria, as well as 22 healthy control subjects. Blood samples were obtained from subjects during their first visit to the clinic, and then again after one month of desloratadine therapy. No significant difference was found between patient and control groups in terms of basal serum neurotrophin levels. However, basal nerve growth factor levels in patients whose symptoms persisted despite treatment were significantly lower than those of the drug-responsive patients and the control group. In treatment-responsive patients, nerve growth factor increased after suppression of the symptoms. Our study suggests that chronic spontaneous urticaria is linked with changes serum nerve growth factor levels, and that the deregulation of neurotrophins may contribute to urticaria pathophysiology.
authors.affiliation: Allergy Division, Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ferhan
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ozseker
authors.forename: Suna
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Büyüköztürk
authors.forename: Asli
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gelincik
authors.forename: Bilge
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Depboylu
authors.forename: Sema
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Genç
authors.forename: Murat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Giriş
authors.forename: Hacer
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Eroğlu
authors.forename: Sacide
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Erden
authors.forename: Bahattin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Colakoğlu
authors.forename: Murat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dal
authors.forename: Aytuğ
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Akkor
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor / Q000097:blood*; D002908:Chronic Disease; D004351:Drug Resistance; D005260:Female; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D039563:Histamine H1 Antagonists, Non-Sedating / Q000008:administration & dosage; D006636:Histamine Release / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D017336:Loratadine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000031:analogs & derivatives; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020932:Nerve Growth Factor / Q000097:blood*; D015213:Neuroimmunomodulation; D020933:Neurotrophin 3 / Q000097:blood*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D015398:Signal Transduction; D014581:Urticaria / Q000097:blood* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor; D039563:Histamine H1 Antagonists, Non-Sedating; D020933:Neurotrophin 3; D017336:Loratadine; D020932:Nerve Growth Factor; C121345:desloratadine