A study on serum ig E and AEC in chronic urticaria and correlation between serum ig E and disease activity in chronic urticaria

Introduction: Urticaria is one of the most common allergic skin disorders having significant psychological impact. It occurs either acutely or evolves in chronic course, this study estimates significance of serum IgE levels, AEC in chronic urticaria and also the association between activity of chronic urticaria and serum Ig E levels. Objective: To measure the serum Ig E levels and Absolute eosinophil count (AEC) in cases and control group and to correlate Serum Ig E with disease activity in chronic urticaria Materials and Methods: It is a prospective case control study conducted in 103 chronic urticaria cases, Serum Ig E levels and AEC were measured in cases and controls, serum Ig E level was correlated with UAS7 in cases. Results: Out of 103 age and sex matched cases and controls the mean age was 29.23±1.27 years in patient group, mean AEC in patients was 541±36.01, significantly higher compared to the controls 126.74±12.82, and mean Ig E levels in patients was 759.19±73.79 IU/ml, significantly higher compared to the controls 153.24±11.51IU/ml. Mean UAS7 score was 19.95±1.02 in cases, five had well controlled urticaria (4.85%), 31 mild (30.09%), 48 moderate (46.60%) and 19 had severe urticaria (18.44%). We observed a statistically significant correlation between serum Ig E and UAS7. Conclusion: The present study suggests that serum Ig E levels needs to be considered as a valuable serological marker of disease severity in cases of chronic urticaria or management. Further similar studies are also required to assess based on the regional and ecological changes as the immunology differs from region to region and lifestyle changes.