The Complexity of Urticaria

Urticaria represents a highly-heterogenous group of diseases that is rather common. Its burden, especially in chronic forms, on individual patients’ lives and society is substantial with detrimental influences on emotional, social, financial and physical aspects. During the last three decades, the pathogenic mechanisms underlying this disease, formerly considered as a mystery, have been elucidated at least in part. Thus, we presently know that a subgroup of Chronic Spontaneous Urticaria (CSU) patients has a frank IgG-mediated auto-immune disease leading to histamine release from mast cells and basophils via the binding of autoantibodies to the high-affinity IgE receptors, or to cell surface-bound IgE.

Furthermore, therapeutic approaches to Chronic Urticaria (CU) represent a challenging field as no curative treatment exists for CU, and all currently recommended treatment options are intended to control and prevent the symptoms of CU. The ultimate goal remains the development of treatments that can prevent CU, alter its course, and cure patients. Furthermore the trials of new therapeutic agents, both biologicals and small molecules provide new knowledge in distinct areas of underlying mechanisms and further elucidate pathogenic pathways. 

The goals are to provide state-of the art information (either investigational and clinical research or review articles) that cover the following fields of the topic: acute urticaria, pathogenic mechanisms of CU’s, burden of CSU and inducible CUs, quality of life in CU patients, new treatments, biomarkers, therapeutic approaches, and unmet needs. Novelty and uniqueness are the main goals; urticaria experts as well as to non-specialists are both appreciated if they address a certain goal or test a well-defined hypothesis.