Objective: Treatment of chronic urticaria (CU) can be difficult in many patients. Achieving long-term remission and reducing the requirement of antihistamines are vital in CU. The objective of this study was to assess the effectiveness of injection histaglobulin, a complex of histamine and human immunoglobulin, in producing relief in patients with CU.
Materials and methods: Fifty-one patients with CU were enrolled into this prospective clinical study. Patients were administered 1 ml of injection histaglobulin subcutaneous for 8 consecutive weeks. They were also prescribed tablet levocetirizine 5 mg to be taken when required (but not more than the permitted dosage). Efficacy was assessed using urticaria activity score (UAS) which has a maximum score of 33/day, during each weekly visit. Final assessment was done after 24 weeks.
Results: Twenty-nine patients had completed the entire 8-week drug regimen. Mean basal UAS was 18.9 ± 6.3 and it reduced to 80.4% by 8 weeks. The angioedema sub-score reduced by 89.8%. Anti-histamine pill burden also reduced significantly. By 24 weeks of starting the therapy, 23 patients (45%) had attained complete remission. No adverse effects to the drug were observed.
Conclusions: Histaglobulin was found to be effective in producing long-term remission and it reduced the antihistamine requirement as well. Thus, it can serve as an effective alternative to existing treatment modalities.
Keywords: Angioedema; anti-histamines; chronic urticaria; histaglobulin; urticaria activity score.