title: Treatment of chronic idiopathic urticaria with levamisole: a multicentre, randomized, double-blind, controlled trial.
abstract: The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of treating chronic idiopathic urticaria (CIU) with levamisole in combination with levocetirizine. This was a multicentre, randomized, double-blind, controlled trial that included 132 patients with active CIU who were treated for 6 weeks with either levocetirizine alone (control group; n = 65) or levamisole plus levocetirizine (treatment group; n = 67). Response to therapy was evaluated by measuring the efficacy rate. After 2 weeks of treatment, there was no significant difference in the efficacy rate between the treatment and control groups (54.84% and 42.37%, respectively). After 6 weeks of treatment, a statistically significant difference in the efficacy rate was observed between the groups (76.27% and 54.39% for the treatment and control groups, respectively). This study demonstrated that a combination of levamisole plus levocetirizine is more effective than levocetirizine alone and potentially provides a new, promising approach to the treatment of CIU.
authors.affiliation: Affiliated Yancheng Hospital, Medical College of Southeast University, Yancheng, China. minidog1972@yahoo.com.cn
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Shan
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Hua
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000328:Adult; D017332:Cetirizine / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002908:Chronic Disease; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005260:Female; D039563:Histamine H1 Antagonists, Non-Sedating / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D007978:Levamisole / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D011537:Pruritus / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014581:Urticaria / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology
chemical_list: D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic; D039563:Histamine H1 Antagonists, Non-Sedating; D007978:Levamisole; C472067:levocetirizine; D017332:Cetirizine