Vitamin D as a Marker for Disease Severity in Chronic Urticaria and Its Possible Role in Pathogenesis

BACKGROUND Chronic urticaria is defined as repeated episodes of wheals lasting for 6 weeks or longer. Nowadays, the role of vitamin D in various chronic diseases is a matter of great interest, but limited data is available on the vitamin D status in patients with chronic urticaria. OBJECTIVE The goal of this study was to investigate the relationship between vitamin D status and clinical characteristics of chronic urticaria. METHODS The clinical records of 72 patients with chronic urticaria, 26 with acute urticaria and 26 with atopic dermatitis, along with 72 healthy controls, were retrospectively reviewed. RESULTS The serum 25-(OH)D3 level was found to be significantly reduced in patients with chronic urticaria compared to those in the other groups. In particular, the proportion of patients with critically low vitamin D levels (<10 ng/ml) was significantly higher in the chronic urticaria group than in the other groups. The serum vitamin D levels showed significant negative associations with urticaria activity score and disease duration. In addition, serum vitamin D levels were significantly lower in subjects with a positive autologous serum skin test than in subjects with a negative result. CONCLUSION In conclusion, the serum vitamin D level was more likely to be critically low in patients with chronic urticaria, and an inverse relationship with disease severity and disease duration was observed. These findings may open up the possibility of the clinical use of vitamin D as a contributing factor in the pathogenesis of chronic urticaria and a predictive marker for disease activity in chronic urticaria.