Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0042109 (urticaria)
 6,569 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Six patients suffering from anaphylactoid reactions after infusion of pasteurized plasma (PP) or human serum albumin (HSA) were investigated. Clinical symptoms ranged from urticaria and hypotension to cardiac arrest. Immunoglobulin levels, especially of IgA, were normal, as were concentrations of complement factors C3, C4 and factor B. In skin and lymphocyte transformation tests patients, with the exception of one severely allergic to protein, did not react to the monomeric pure HSA. Five out of six patients reacted against HSA aggregates and three patients to the HSA modified by caprylate added as stabilizer during commercial HSA production. It is concluded that the anaphylactoid reactions developing after PP or HSA infusion result from a non-specific reaction to protein aggregates and in some cases possibly from a specific immune response to the caprylate-modified HSA.
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PMID:Anaphylactoid reactions to infusions of plasma protein and human serum albumin. Role of aggregated proteins and of stabilizers added during production. 42 39

The pathophysiology of localized heat urticaria was studied by performing a heat challenge on a patient with this disease. Serum levels of total hemolytic complement, C3, and factor B decreased following heat challenge, whereas levels of C4 and C5 did not. Plasma histamine levels remained unchanged. Electron microscopic studies of affected tissue revealed endothelial cell damage and neutrophilic degranulation in the affected area. Mast cells remained intact. These data imply that activation of the alternative complement pathway is involved in the pathogenesis of localized heat urticaria and that mast cell histamine release does not play a significant role in this disease.
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PMID:Localized heat urticaria. 63 76

Several studies have suggested that complement activation processes are frequently involved in the pathogenesis of urticaria. We report clinical evolution and studies of complement-mediated functions in a 47-year-old previously described patient presenting with chronic urticaria, in whom we found persistent low complement hemolytic activity (65-75% of normal values), depressed levels of third complement component (C3, between 55% and 65%) and of factor B (between 60% and 75%), together with C1, C4, C2, C5, C5b neoantigen and fluid phase terminal complement (SC5b-9) complex within the normal range, pointing to activation of the alternative pathway. A circulating low affinity C3 nephritic factor (C3NeF), known to enhance cleavage of human serum C3, was detected. The urticarial lesions, which were initially pruritic and persisted for less than 24 hours, became subsequently fixed and burning, and were accompanied by fever and arthralgia. Skin biopsy specimens showed moderate leukocytoclastic vasculitis. Response to varied treatment regimens, including antihistamines and colchicine, was poor. Therapy with oral corticosteroids produced some improvement. The association of chronic urticaria with C3NeF without clinical and biological signs of membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis and partial lipodystrophy has not to our knowledge been reported before. This observation raises the question of a possible role of C3NeF in the pathogenesis of urticaria.
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PMID:[Chronic urticaria and acquired complement deficiency due to a nephritic factor (C3NeF)]. 221 45

A case of localized heat urticaria is reported in a 51-year-old woman who within a few minutes of contact with warm water developed erythema and swelling sharply localized to the heated area. After a hot bath urticarial lesions appeared over large areas of her body, accompanied by a feeling of weakness, but no other systemic symptoms. After challenge with heat by immersing her left arm in water heated to 42 degrees C, a rapid decrease of her serum complement level of factor B was demonstrated, suggesting that activation of an alternative complement pathway plays a role in this form of urticaria. Biopsies for immunofluorescent study of complement and immunoglobulins were negative at 30 and 180 min after heat challenge. The dermal fibres and endothelial cells of dermal vessels were capable, in vitro, of complement binding before and after exposure to heat.
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PMID:Localized heat urticaria associated with a decrease in serum complement factor B (C3 proactivator). 655