Exploring the Role of Autologous Serum Skin Testing in Chronic Urticaria: A Descriptive Study from an Allergy Clinic in Bangalore

Background Conventionally chronic urticaria CU is defined as a condition characterized by recurrent appearance of hives or wheals persisting for more than six weeks. Chronic urticaria patients with positive test exhibit functional autoantibodies against IgE andor its high-affinity IgE receptor FceRI. Autologous serum skin test ASST distinguishes autoimmune urticaria from CU. ASST is an in vivo clinical test with a sensitivity of 70 and specificity of 80 for detecting basophil histamine-releasing activity.Objective To describe the sociodemographic profile of the study subjects and to determine the autologous serum skin test positivity in chronic urticaria patients.MethodsnbspA prospective descriptive study involving 208 subjects was undertaken at an allergy centre attached to a medical college in Bengaluru. ASST was performed as per standard guidelines under aseptic precautions. The test was considered positive if within 30 minutes an erythematous wheal with a diameter ge2 mm larger than the saline-induced response appeared.Results The mean age of the study subjects was 38.36 years with a standard deviation of 13.35 years. The majority of subjects 105 50.5 were males. ASST was positive in 131 63 participants and among those who tested positive 69 52.7 were females. However this difference was not statistically significant.Conclusion The high ASST positivity rate 63 in CU subjects implies the autoimmune mechanisms involved in the aetiology. Positive ASST results were observed more frequently in females than in males which is in concordance with existing literature however this difference was not statistically significant.