Chronic urticaria and the gut microbiota: what is this 'long-distance' relationship?
Background Chronic urticaria is characterized by daily itchy wealing of the skin for more than six weeks, affecting roughly 0.5 – 2% of the global population. Although the precise causes of chronic urticaria are not usually known, it has been suggested that this condition may arise due to autoimmune...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
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BMJ Publishing Group
2023
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| Online Access: | http://eprints.sunway.edu.my/2798/ https://doi.org/10.1136/gutjnl-2023-IDDF.97 |
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| Summary: | Background Chronic urticaria is characterized by daily itchy wealing of the skin for more than six weeks, affecting roughly 0.5 – 2% of the global population. Although the precise causes of chronic urticaria are not usually known, it has been suggested that this condition may arise due to autoimmune disorders, allergies, infections, or medications. The gut microbiome plays an important role in immune regulation and its effects in many immune-mediated diseases have been reported. Consequently, this work investigates the distinctive gut microbiota changes in chronic urticaria and the potential of identifying biomarkers or therapeutic targets to facilitate disease diagnosis/treatment.
Methods Searches were performed in four databases (PubMed, MEDLINE, EMBASE, ScienceDirect; database inception to 31st January 2023) using ‘hives’, ‘urticaria’, ‘gut microbiota’, and ‘gut microbiome’ as MeSH terms (following PRISMA guidelines). All titles and abstracts retrieved were screened based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Studies reporting gut microbiome data in relation to chronic urticaria were included in the current analysis but not those without gut microbiome data/with other interventions.
Results Nine human studies on gut microbiota changes in chronic urticaria were selected from 29 papers using the inclusion and exclusion criteria (IDDF2023-ABS-0239 Figure 1). Six studies were conducted in China, while the remaining three studies were done in Iran and Turkey. All studies reported significant changes in gut microbiota, involving the predominant gut bacterial phylum such as Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, Actinobacteria and Proteobacteria. Although results reported for these phyla were heterogenous, two studies indicated the potential diagnostic values of the selected genus including genus Lachnobacterium, Turicibacter, Lactobacillus, Romboutsia and Ruminococcus. Besides that, a study in 2021 examined the correlation between microbial markers, duration of chronic urticaria and patients’ quality of life. The team noted that the abundance of Enterobacteriaceae and Klebsiella positively correlated with the duration of the disease, while the abundance of Clostridium disporicum was positively correlated with the dermatology life quality index.
Conclusions Altogether, these findings demonstrate the influence of gut health on chronic urticaria. Additional research into microbiome-based therapies like probiotics/symbiotics could help manage the condition long-term and understand the mechanics of communication between these two remote sites. |
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