Liu, R., Peng, C., Jing, D., Xiao, Y., Zhu, W., Zhao, S., Zhang, J., Chen, X., & Li, J.
Exp Dermatol. 2021 Sep 24. doi: 10.1111/exd.14460. Online ahead of print.
Chronic urticaria is a condition driven by mast cells, with an average lifetime prevalence of 1.4%. Chronic spontaneous urticaria is a common type of chronic urticaria that impacts quality of life and has a high economic and social burden. Chronic spontaneous urticaria is treated with oral second-generation antihistamines, however only half of the patients respond to up to quadruple doses of these antihistamines. It is known that gut microbiota can affect their efficacy. The objective of this study was to explore the relationship between gut microbiota and the efficacy of antihistamines in people with chronic spontaneous urticaria.
The gut microbiota of fecal samples from 15 responders to antihistamine monotherapy and 15 non-responders was assessed by 16S rDNA sequencing, and the differential bacterial species between them were confirmed by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). Samples from 30 responders and 30 non-responders were used to confirm the differential bacterial species by qPCR.
The main difference between responders and non-responders was the presence of Lachnospiraceae and its subordinate taxa. The quantity of Lachnospira was higher in responders than non-responders.
In conclusion, the presence of Lachnospira has shown to have a moderate diagnostic value in assessing the efficacy of chronic urticaria with antihistamines.
