1.
Efficacy of autologous whole blood or serum therapy for chronic spontaneous urticaria: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Chang HC, Sung CW, Lin MH
The Journal of dermatological treatment. 2019;:1-28
Abstract
BACKGROUND Chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) is chronic wheals without identifiable exogenous stimuli. Autologous whole blood (AWB) injection and autologous serum therapy (AST) are alternative therapies for CSU that induce tolerance to circulating histamine-releasing factors. OBJECTIVE We elucidated currently available evidence for the efficacy and safety of AWB therapy and AST for CSU. METHODS We systematically searched four databases for eligible studies to perform meta-analysis. The primary outcome was the efficacy of AST or AWB therapy, and the secondary outcome was improvement after intervention based on the autologous serum skin test (ASST) status of patients. RESULTS Eight clinical trials, including four randomized controlled trials and 529 CSU patients, were identified. AST was not more effective than the placebo treatment in alleviating CSU symptoms at the end of treatment (P = 0.161), and AWB injection was also not more effective in response rates than the placebo at the end of follow-up (P = 0.099). Furthermore, the efficacy of AST or AWB injection for CSU and the ASST status were not significantly related. No remarkable adverse events were recorded during therapy. CONCLUSIONS Our meta-analysis suggested that AWB therapy and AST are not significantly more effective in alleviating CSU symptoms than the placebo treatment.
2.
Autologous whole blood and autologous serum injections are equally effective as placebo injections in reducing disease activity in patients with chronic spontaneous urticaria: a placebo controlled, randomized, single-blind study
Kocaturk E, Aktas S, Turkoglu Z, Kavala M, Zindanci I, Koc M, Can B, Sudogan S
Journal of Dermatological Treatment. 2012;23((6):):465-71.
Abstract
BACKGROUND Recent demonstration of circulating anti-IgG antibodies towards IgE and its receptor (FcERI) has led to an interest in inducing tolerance to circulating histamine-releasing factors with autologous blood injections as a treatment option in chronic spontaneous urticaria (CU). The aim of the study was to assess the efficacy of autologous whole blood (AWB) and autologous serum (AS) injections in patients with CU compared to placebo. METHODS A total of 88 CU patients with (+) autologous serum skin test (ASST) (59) and (-) ASST (29) were randomized into three parallel subgroups and were treated with weekly injections of AWB, AS or placebo for 10 weeks. Clinical assessments included urticaria activity score (UAS) and dermatology life quality index. RESULTS In ASST (+) patients, the percentages of patients with >30% improvement in UAS and DLQI were 85% and 90% in AWB group, 65% and 65% in AS group and 79% and 90% in placebo group, respectively. In ASST (-) patients, these figures were 67% and 89% in the AWB group, 80% and 80% in the AS group and 60% and 70% in the placebo group. The intergroup difference for complete subsidence was not statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS Even though we could not show a better efficacy than placebo, autohemotherapy resulted in a marked decrease in disease activity and improvement in quality of life scores in CU patients.