Prevalence of Autoimmune and Autoinflammatory Diseases in Chronic Urticaria: Pathogenetic, Diagnostic and Therapeutic Implications

Abstract

Chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) is defined as the almost daily occurrence of widespread wheals, angioedema, or both, for more than 6 weeks. It affects 1–2% of the general population, with a higher prevalence in female patients, and is more frequent patients over 20 years of age. More than half of all cases of chronic idiopathic urticaria are thought to occur due to an autoimmune mechanism, specifically the production of autoantibodies against the high-affinity immunoglobulin E (IgE) receptor (FcεRI). The quality of life in these patients is often greatly compromised, also due to the onset of comorbidities represented by other autoimmune diseases, such as thyroid disease, rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, Sjögren’s syndrome, celiac disease, and type 1 diabetes, among others. This review aimed to analyze the close correlation between CSU and some autoimmune and autoinflammatory diseases, in order to encourage a multidisciplinary and multimorbid approach to the patient affected by CSU, which allows not only control of the natural course of the disease, but also any associated comorbidities.