Biomarkers of chronic spontaneous urticaria

Chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) is a distressing skin condition that is characterized by the daily or nearly daily appearance of pruritus and wheals of more than 6-week duration. CSU is now believed to have two endotypes, namely, the more common auto-allergic type and the more recalcitrant autoimmune type. It is often difficult to treat the disorder and various treatment modalities are recommended for symptom control, including second-generation non-sedative antihistamines, cyclosporin, and omalizumab. To track the progression of the disease and the efficacy of treatment, certain biomarkers play a key role. Biomarkers identified for CSU include some major ones such as Interleukin (IL)-6, IL-17, and IL-31 and minor ones such as periostin and oncostatin-M. Not only do they may serve as important prognostic tools for proper diagnosis of the disease, but they have also been utilized in several clinical studies to track the progression of the disease, which underlines their importance in the clinical setting.