Basophils priming in patients with chronic spontaneous urticaria

Introduction
Basophils are one of the main target cells in chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU). If cells present higher susceptibility to production and degranulation of pro-inflammatory factors, priming may be associated with severity of symptoms and therapy ineffectiveness. Aim: To evaluate the spontaneous state of increase in basophil activity and their priming profile in patients with CSU.

Material and methods
The study sample included 22 patients diagnosed with CSU and 20 healthy volunteers without either allergy symptoms or CSU. In this study, we evaluate the presence of CD63 and CD63+CD203c at basophils surface by flow cytometry test (basophil activation test – BAT).

Results
We found that the percentage of activated basophils was higher in patients with CSU than in the control group and this difference was statistically significant (p < 0.05).

Conclusions
Our results indicate a greater degree of basophils activation in patients with CSU in remission than in the control group; it might be useful for identification of patients with predominance of the autoimmune variant of CSU and typing patients responding (responders) and refractory (non-responders) to treatment with antihistamines.