title: Endostatin and Thrombospondin-1 levels are increased in the sera of patients with chronic spontaneous urticaria.
abstract: Chronic urticaria (CU) is a common disease characterized by recurrent itchy wheals and/or angioedema for more than 6 weeks. Increased levels of the pro-angiogenic mediator vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) have been described in skin disorders, such as chronic urticaria (CU), psoriasis and atopic dermatitis. Up to now, no data on the role of VEGF endogenous inhibitors Endostatin (ES) and Thrombospondin-1 (TSP-1) in CU are available. The aim of our study is to investigate the potential involvement of ES and TSP-1 in patients with chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU). The levels of ES and TSP-1 were measured in the sera of 106 adult patients with CSU and 98 healthy subjects by enzyme immunoassays. The serum levels of the anti-angiogenic mediators ES and TSP-1 resulted significantly higher in CSU than in control subjects. Analysis of these mediators in CSU sub-groups, defined by the results of the autologous serum skin test (ASST), identified a significant increase of ES and TSP-1 in both ASST-positive and ASST-negative sub-groups as compared to the controls. Levels of ES and TSP-1 do not parallel the disease severity in CSU. Our study suggests that the extracellular matrix (ECM) fragments ES and TSP-1 with anti-angiogenic activity play a potential role in the pathogenesis of CSU but do not parallel disease activity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Clinical Immunology and Allergy Unit, University of Pisa, Via Roma 67, 56126, Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: Ilaria
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Puxeddu
authors.forename: Sara Casigliani
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Rabl
authors.forename: Filomena
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Panza
authors.forename: Federico
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pratesi
authors.forename: Valeria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Rocchi
authors.forename: Isabella
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Del Corso
authors.forename: Paola
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Migliorini
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002908:Chronic Disease; D018450:Disease Progression; D043169:Endostatins / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009389:Neovascularization, Pathologic / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D012882:Skin Tests; D019700:Thrombospondin 1 / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000097:blood; D015854:Up-Regulation; D014581:Urticaria / Q000097:blood*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D043169:Endostatins; D019700:Thrombospondin 1