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Query: UMLS:C0042109 (urticaria)
 6,569 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

We report a case of a 45 year old woman which fulfilled the criteria of chronic urticaria (remitting and relapsing bouts of erythematous and pruriginuos lesions without angioedema, lasted four months). Cutaneous manifestations were not related to a specific inducing factor, had no benefit from antihystamine and steroid drugs and were associated sometimes with mild gastroentric disorders. Patient was submitted to extensive clinical, laboratory and intrumental investigations which permit to exclude many conditions: allergy to inhalants, food, insects and drug adverse reactions, autoimmune urticaria, autoimmune diseases, neoplastic and infectious diseases. Finally coprocolture disclosed the presence of Blastocystis hominis in stool samples thus permitting to associate urticaria to parasitic infection. Both cutaneous manifestations and mild abdomen disturbs disappeared after appropriate treatment. Despite the high diffusion the aetiopathogenesis of chronic urticaria remains often undefined. A large number of parasites have been correlated with urticaria but few data exist as regards Blastocystis hominis infection; then our findings may add evidence to the role of this parasite in inducing chronic urticaria. Considering that Blastocystis hominis is a modest pathogen for humans, the mechanism is probably the typical one of cutaneous allergic hypersensitivity; antigen parasites induce the activation of specific clones of Th2 lymphocytes, the release of related cytokines and the consequent IgE production.
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PMID:Chronic urticaria and blastocystis hominis infection: a case report. 1536 95

Blastocystis is one of the most common intestinal protozoan parasites worldwide, which is linked to cutaneous lesions and urticaria. In a setting of systematic review, the data on the association of Blastocystis infection with cutaneous lesions were searched in order to summarize the main clinical symptoms, diagnostic methods, treatment, and outcome of the patients. The search identified 28 eligible articles, including 12 cross-sectional studies and 16 case reports/case series (including 23 cases). A diverse spectrum of skin symptoms, mainly urticaria, rash, and itching, was reported from the studies. Of the 23 infected cases with the skin symptoms, gastrointestinal symptoms were reported from the 16 cases, whereas 7 cases with urticaria had asymptomatic infection. The most frequent subtypes were ST1, ST2, and ST3, respectively. Metronidazole, paromomycin, and tinidazole were the most prescribed drugs in patients with single Blastocystis infection. Notably, urticaria and other cutaneous symptoms of all treated patients were resolved after treatment. In conclusion, this study indicates that Blastocystis infection can be a neglected cause of urticaria and skin disorders. Since the treatment of Blastocystis infection is simple, screening and treatment of this infection should be considered in patients with urticaria and other skin disorders.
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PMID:Blastocystis, urticaria, and skin disorders: review of the current evidences. 3187 64