ABSTRACT
Chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) is characterized by recurrent wheals with severe itching, and greatly affects the life quality of patients. The European guideline on chronic urticaria recommends the anti-IgE monoclonal antibody omalizumab as the only third-line therapy for patients with CSU whose condition can not be controlled by high doses of antihistamines. Although a lot of researches have shown that omalizumab is effective and safe for the treatment of CSU, its therapeutic mechanisms have not yet been fully elucidated. This review summarizes therapeutic mechanisms of omalizumab in the treatment of CSU, and indices for predicting and monitoring its clinical efficacy.
ABSTRACT
Chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) is characterized by recurrent wheals with severe itching,and greatly affects the life quality of patients.The European guideline on chronic urticaria recommends the anti-IgE monoclonal antibody omalizumab as the only third-line therapy for patients with CSU whose condition can not be controlled by high doses of antihistamines.Although a lot of researches have shown that omalizumab is effective and safe for the treatment of CSU,its therapeutic mechanisms have not yet been fully elucidated.This review summarizes therapeutic mechanisms of omalizumab in the treatment of CSU,and indices for predicting and monitoring its clinical efficacy.
ABSTRACT
Chronic spontaneous urticaria is defined as recurrent wheals of unknown etiology for more than 6 weeks,with or without angioneurotic edema.The key step in the pathogenesis of chronic spontaneous urticaria is activation and degranulation of mast cells and basophils.Omalizumab,a recombinant humanized IgG monoclonal antibody,can selectively bond the Fc region of free IgE antibodies,and then block IgE-FCeR Ⅰ-mediated activation of mast cells and basophils.Three phase Ⅲ clinical trials have been reported on the efficacy of omalizumab in the treatment of chronic spontaneous urticaria,which confirm the efficacy and safety of omalizumab in the treatment of refractory chronic spontaneous urticaria.