Association of basophil parameters with disease severity and duration in chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU).

Chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) is characterized by ≥6 weeks of spontaneous, pruritic hives. Despite CSU's significant impact on quality of life, few predictors are known for the clinical course of disease. However, basophils have been shown to have unique features in CSU. First, basopenia has been linked to disease severity.1,2 Second, studies have demonstrated suppression of the IgE pathway to histamine release (HR) in active CSU compared with controls, with basophil hyporesponsiveness improving in disease remission.