• Emel Bülbül Başkan, Tugba Türker, Macit Gülten, and Sükran Tunali.
• Department of Dermatology, Uludag University Medical Faculty, Bursa, Turkey. ezbaskan@ttnet.net.tr
• Int. J. Dermatol. 2005 Dec 1; 44 (12): 993-5.

BackgroundThere are controversial reports about the direct role of Helicobacterpylori infection in chronic idiopathic urticaria. The indirect role of H. pylori infection in the induction of pathogenetic antibodies is not fully elucidated either. This study aims to reveal the association of H. pylori infection with autologous serum skin test positivity in chronic idiopathic urticaria (CIU) patients.MethodsA total of 47 patients (35 women, 12 men, age range 17-65 years) diagnosed as CIU were included in the study. Autologous serum skin test was performed on all patients. The patients were examined with a commercially available ELISA test for H. pylori-specific antibodies. Gastroscopy with mucosal biopsy and rapid urease tests were proposed to verify the presence of H. pylori infection.ResultsHelicobacter pylori infection was detected in 33 of the 47 patients (70%). No significant relation was found between the autologous serum skin test positivity and the serological and histopathological presence of H. pylori infection.ConclusionThe results of our study suggest that chronic H. pylori infection does not appear to have a role in the induction of autoantibodies in CIU.

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