Research Article
A Study of Autologous Serum Skin Test and Autologous Serum Therapy in Chronic Urticaria
Chandarana VT*, Bhuptani NV, Patel BK and Raghavon UN
Department of Dermatology, Venerology and Leprosy, PDU Government Medical College and Hospital, Rajkot, Gujarat, India
*Corresponding author: Chandarana VT, Department of Dermatology, Venerology and Leprosy, PDU
Government Medical College and Hospital, Rajkot, Gujarat, India, E-mail: chandaranavanashri@gmail.com
Copyright: © 2022 Chandarana VT, et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons
Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original
work is properly cited.
Article Information: Submission: 04/01/2022; Accepted: 07/02/2022; Published: 10/02/2022
Abstract
Background: Chronic urticaria is defined as the recurrence of short-lived wheals three or more times per week for more than six weeks, with or without
angioedema. Chronic urticaria is a frustrating condition that affects at least 0.1 percent of the population. Patients with chronic urticaria suffer from irritated itch
and wheals, as well as a high antihistamine tablet load. The majority of chronic urticaria sufferers have an unknown or idiopathic cause. A subset of patients of
chronic urticaria may have an autoimmune basis for their condition. The objective of the study was to compare the effectiveness of AST in patients with ASST
positive and negative ASST and to see how AST affects the dermatological life quality index (DLQI) before and after treatment.
Methods: An interventional study was conducted in the Department of Dermatology OPD of our institute from October 2020 to October 2021. Thirty-Five
patients were included in our study. The ASST of 35 patients included routine and specialized laboratory testing (thyroid function test, stool for ova). Patients
were instructed to stop using antihistamines two days before the test. All patients had ASST conducted after receiving written authorization, and AST was
administered to them regardless of their ASST status (2ml autologous serum i.m. in gluteal region once weekly for 9 consecutive weeks). Patients in both
groups were told to take one tablet of levocetrizine (10 mg) if they felt wheals or itching, but not more than one pill per day. After 9 AST injections, a 4-week
follow-up was taken. The key efficacy criteria were the urticaria activity score (UAS), total severity score (TSS), and DLQI, which were measured at baseline
and weekly after each injection of autologous serum treatment.
Results: In patients of both groups, UAS and TSS showed significant improvement (>50%) after 5th week of therapy. In ASST positive patients, the
improvement in DLQI score was slightly higher. A larger percentage of ASST positive patients enjoy symptom-free periods after a one-month follow-up period.
Conclusions: Both ASST positive and ASST negative individuals showed improvement in their symptoms. Patients with ASST positivity, on the other
hand, showed a greater increase in quality of life as measured by the length of time they were symptom-free.