Prevalence of Selective Immunoglobulin A-Deficiency among Patients Diagnosed with Chronic Spontaneous Urticaria

Abstract Background Chronic spontaneous urticaria with angioedema is prevalent, affecting approximately 1% of the general population, and has a significant impact on quality of life, according to epidemiological data. Aim of the Work To determine the prevalence of Selective immunoglobulin A-deficiency among patients diagnosed with Chronic Spontaneous Urticaria. Patients and Methods This observational cross-sectional study was conducted on 104 patients attending Allergy Clinic at Ain Shams University Hospitals during the period from July 2023 to December 2023. Results Our results showed that 5 patients out of 104 cases were found to have Selective IgA deficiency. Our findings implicate that especially the combination of serum IgA and IgE levels is of relevance in the diagnostic workup of CSU patients. Notably, patients with lower IgA levels present different disease phenotypes such as recurrent respiratory tract infections, allergies, autoimmune diseases and gastrointestinal disorders and other complications. Such pathology urges patients with low IgA levels to seek early medical advice explaining why SIgAD patients in our study presented to us with a short-term duration of CSU. Not only low IgA levels was connected to lower eosinophil counts, but also, lower IgE level, independent of IgA values, is connected to lower eosinophil counts. The pathology underlying the decrease in immunoglobulin levels and their interaction in CSU was explained by impairment in antibody class switch with imbalanced immunoglobulin production, yet precise mechanism is still not well understood. Conclusion Our study focused on determining the prevalence of Selective immunoglobulin A-deficiency among patients diagnosed with Chronic Spontaneous Urticaria. Consistently, our results detected 5 patients out of 104 cases were found to have Selective IgA deficiency. Our research results strongly support that IgA and IgE level assessment is essential to further diagnose subtypes of CSU. Such assessment will potentiate the early formulation of appropriate therapy to each patient.