Chronic Urticaria - Facts And Information

You are probably at a loss as to what chronic urticaria is. When we talk of chronic urticaria, we're talking about an allergic reaction. Like any type of allergy, this also requires some triggering factors to stimulate it. This risk factor can be the simple food item that you eat. What might be a common food item to you, might be allergic one to another person. For instance, you might eat nuts daily. However, other people may be allergic to it. There are different immune cells in the body like dendritic cells, mast cells, T cells and so on. Antibodies are produced by the body as a form of defense against the various antigens and other agents entering the body. This response could then possibly result to chronic urticaria and other allergies. It is commonly characterized by an itchy feeling and some swelling, or colored hives with a red base. It might affect the entire layer of skin and even the mouth and lips.

The mast cell is considered to be the main player in the pathogenesis of chronic urticaria. When these cells are stimulated by an external agent, histamines will be soon released. Along with these histamines, prostaglandins that are formed at that time will also be released.

After the release of these histamines and prostaglandins from the cytoplasmic granules, the next stage would be vasodilatation. This will then be followed by erythema. The formation of wheals would necessitate a number of mediators before it could happen. Just as an example, many chemo attractants will be produced by the neutrophils. This will also lead to itching. Since these are also involved in chronic urticaria, you cannot use antihistamines to treat such a condition. Wheal formation has different causative agents, they will not be effective at all if you insist to make use of them.

There are two main types of chronic urticaria. This includes the auto immune chronic urticaria. This is a condition that affects 45 per cent of the population who has chronic urticaria. If you take a look at the rest - the 55 percent - they will most likely be suffering from idiopathic chronic urticaria. In both cases, many types of antibodies are produced in the body. The Fc receptor of IgE will be combated using the immunoglobulin G auto antibodies. The alpha subunit in the Fc receptor of IgE will be what it will be up against. In many instances, they can also be produced to go against the auto antibodies known as anti IgE.

These reactions will make the body instinctively produce basophile, which are histamines from immune cells. It will also be helped along by the complement system that is found in the blood. These reactions will cause the production of C5a. The mast cells will become activated even more. It also serves like a chemo attractant. Thus it will attract the neutrophils and eosinophils. All these immune cells will clump together in one region and form lesions on the different regions of the skin. The dermal mast cells will also be releasing more amount of histamine, leading to more allergic reaction and swelling on skin.