Effects of Omalizumab Treatment on Hematological Parameters and Total IgE Levels in Patients with Chronic Idiopathic Urticaria

Aim: Omalizumab is a humanized antibody that binds to the IgE receptor and its mechanism of action is still not fully understood although it is effective in the treatment of chronic urticaria. In this study, our aim is to investigate the effects of omalizumab treatment applied to patients with chronic urticaria on the hematological parameter and on IgE values.
Materials and Methods: In our study, the hematological parameter and IgE values of 36 patients, who received three cycles of omalizumab treatment due to chronic urticaria, were recorded before and after the treatment.
Results: Before the omalizumab treatment, neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio was found to be higher (p: 0.038), and platelet distribution width was found to be lower (p: 0.01) in patients with chronic urticaria than in the control group. After the treatment, neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio values of the patients with chronic urticaria, who received omalizumab treatment for 12 weeks, were observed to decrease (p: 0.05), and platelet distribution width values were observed to increase (p: 0.002). No significant
difference was observed between the patients with chronic urticaria and the control group regarding mean platelet volume, and there was no significant change at the end of the treatment. In the patient group, the IgE values before omalizumab treatment were higher than the IgE values at the 12th week (p: 0.001).
Conclusion: In light of data, our findings suggest that neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio, platelet distribution width and IgE values may be useful hematologic parameters for the evaluation and followup of remission in patients with chronic urticaria.
Key words: Ig E, Omalizumab, Urticaria