Chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) greatly affects the quality of life of patients. Currently, no sensitive and convenient biomarkers are available to assess the severity of CSU and efficacy of drug therapies. It is particularly important to apply patient-reported outcome assessment tools with good reliability and validity in daily management of CSU, such as urticaria activity score, urticaria control test and chronic urticaria quality of life questionnaire. This review outlines the existing CSU assessment tools, analyzes their strengths, limitations and clinical application, aiming to establish a CSU clinical scoring system, and to facilitate personalized treatment and efficacy evaluation.

Objective:To retrospectively evaluate efficacy and safety of omalizumab in the treatment of chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) , as well as recurrence after its withdrawal.Methods:Clinical data on patients with CSU, who received omalizumab treatment in Peking University First Hospital from February 2018 to January 2021, were collected and analyzed retrospectively. Through outpatient follow-up, urticaria control test (UCT) and dermatology life quality index (DLQI) were recorded to assess disease severity, and adverse events and recurrence after omalizumab withdrawal were monitored. Comparisons of normally distributed measurement data between groups were carried out using t test or analysis of variance, comparisons of non-normally distributed measurement data between groups using Mann-Whitney U test, Wilcoxon signed-rank test or Kruskal-Wallis H test, and comparisons of enumeration data between groups using chi-square test or Fisher′s exact test. Results:A total of 59 patients with CSU were included and treated with omalizumab for at least 3 months, of whom, 45 were treated for more than 6 months, and 15 for more than 12 months. After the start of omalizumab treatment, UCT scores increased from 3.0 (1.0, 6.0) points at baseline to 11.0 (3.0, 14.0) points at 1 month and 15.0 (12.0, 16.0) points at 3 months (both P < 0.05) ; DLQI scores decreased from 16.0 (12.0, 20.0) points at baseline to 7.0 (1.0, 13.0) points at 1 month and 1.0 (0.0, 4.0) points at 3 months (both P < 0.05) . The proportion of patients achieving partial or complete disease control increased from 0 at baseline to 44.1% at 1 month, 78.0% at 3 months, and 88.9% at 6 months. The proportion of patients whose quality of life was severely or extremely severely affected by CSU decreased from 84.7% at baseline to 30.5% at 1 month, 15.3% at 3 months, and 4.4% at 6 months. The disease duration was significantly shorter in the complete response group and partial response group than in the non-response group ( t = -2.894, -2.511, P = 0.011, 0.036, respectively) ; the treatment duration was significantly longer in the complete response group than in the partial response group and non-response group ( t = 2.479, 2.677, P = 0.039, 0.022, respectively) . Compared with the rapid response group, the slow response group showed higher DLQI scores ( Z = -2.622, P = 0.009) and lower UCT scores ( Z = -2.746, P = 0.006) at baseline. Nineteen patients withdrew omalizumab after complete control of CSU, of whom 13 (68.4%) experienced relapse 7.0 (5.0, 8.0) weeks after the withdrawal, and showed significantly higher UCT scores at relapse than at baseline ( Z = 3.172, P = 0.001) . The disease duration was significantly longer in the recurrence group than in the non-recurrence group ( Z = -2.635, P = 0.007) . After recurrence, 5 patients restarted omalizumab treatment, and all of them regained partial or complete disease control. The adverse events reported during the treatment were all mild to moderate. Conclusions:Omalizumab can effectively and safely control symptoms of CSU and improve the quality of life of patients with CSU. However, recurrence frequently occurs after omalizumab withdrawal, and reinitiating omalizumab treatment after recurrence is still effective.

Objective:To evaluate clinical efficacy and safety of omalizumab in the treatment of symptomatic dermographism by analyzing real-world data.Methods:Clinical data were collected from patients with symptomatic dermographism who completed 16-week treatment with omalizumab in Department of Dermatology, Peking University First Hospital from February 2018 to May 2021, and retrospectively analyzed. The analysis was done by comparing data obtained before and after the treatment, including critical friction thresholds (CFTs) , pruritus scores in a provocation test, as well as urticaria control test (UCT) , dermatology life quality index (DLQI) and chronic urticaria quality of life questionnaire (CU-Q2oL) scores. Adverse events reported by patients during the treatment were recorded. Wilcoxon signed-rank test was applied for the analysis of clinical data before and after the treatment.Results:A total of 27 patients with symptomatic dermographism who completed 16 weeks of omalizumab treatment were included. At baseline, the CFTs of all the 27 patients were 4, and their UCT, DLQI and CU-Q2oL scores were 7.0 (5.0, 8.0) , 9.0 (6.0, 10.0) , 63.0 (50.0, 72.0) points respectively. At week 4, the CFTs decreased from 4 to 0 in 9 patients (33.3%) , the UCT scores increased to 14.0 (12.0, 16.0) points ( Z = 4.548, P<0.05) , and the DLQI and CU-Q2oL scores decreased to 2.0 (0.0, 2.0) and 32.0 (25.0, 41.0) points respectively in the 27 patients ( Z = 4.513, 4.433, respectively, both P<0.05) . At week 6, the UCT scores increased to 15.0 (14.0, 16.0) points, and the DLQI and CU-Q2oL scores decreased to 0.0 (0.0, 1.0) and 25.0 (23.0, 30.0) points respectively in the 27 patients. No drug-related serious adverse events were reported during the treatment. Conclusion:Omalizumab can effectively improve the symptoms of symptomatic dermographism and patients′ quality of life with a good safety profile.

Objective:To evaluate the efficacy and safety of baricitinib in the treatment of moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis (AD) .Methods:From June 2020 to June 2021, patients with moderate-to-severe AD who were insensitive or intolerant to topical agents were enrolled from Department of Dermatology, Peking University First Hospital. Before treatment, the patients were evaluated by 4 scales, including the Investigator′s Global Assessment (IGA), Eczema Area and Severity Index (EASI), Itch Numeric Rating Scale (NRS), and Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) ; meanwhile, photos of skin lesions were taken, routine blood test was performed, blood biochemical indices and total IgE levels were measured. After exclusion of contraindications, the patients were treated with oral baricitinib at a dose of 2 mg/d for 16 weeks. Regular follow-up was conducted at weeks 1, 2, 4, 8, 12, 16 and 20 after the start of treatment, clinical evaluation was carried out with the above 4 scales, and adverse events were recorded during the treatment.Results:A total of 24 patients were enrolled in the study, and all completed 16-week oral treatment and 20-week follow-up. All the 4 scale scores showed a continuous downward trend within 20 weeks after the start of treatment. At week 20, the patients′ IGA, EASI, NRS, and DLQI scores significantly decreased from 4.13 ± 0.61, 37.59 ± 14.86, 6.83 ± 2.26 and 18.67 ± 8.64 points respectively at baseline to 1.12 ± 0.49, 4.53 ± 3.78, 0.72 ± 0.58 and 1.39 ± 0.85 points respectively ( t = 22.70, 10.55, 10.69, 8.40, respectively, all P < 0.001). During the follow-up period, no serious adverse reactions were observed; 3 patients experienced gastric discomfort at the start of oral treatment, but the symptoms disappeared after the treatment continued; 3 developed acute allergic manifestations (1 case of allergic conjunctivitis, 2 cases of acute urticaria), which resolved rapidly after the use of antihistamines without recurrence. Conclusion:Baricitinib can provide a safer and more effective treatment option for patients with moderate-to-severe AD, especially those who are insensitive or intolerant to topical agents and need systemic treatments.

Autologous serum skin test (ASST) is commonly used as a screening test to assess immune subtypes of chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) in clinical practice, but its immunological mechanisms and associations with clinical features and prognosis of CSU are not yet clear. Studies have shown that positive ASST is associated with increased immunoglobulin G autoantibodies, decreased eosinophil and basophil counts, increased CD63 expression on basophils, and changes in circulating inflammatory cytokine levels in CSU patients, but not associated with age, disease duration, and personal or family history of CSU patients, and may be a predictor of severity of chronic urticaria. ASST-positive patients may respond poorly to second-generation H1 antihistamines, slowly to omalizumab, but respond well to cyclosporine and autologous whole blood/serum injections. This review summarizes the immunological and clinical characteristics of ASST-positive patients, and discusses the predictive value of positive ASST for the efficacy of different treatment regimens.