Effect of sera from chronic urticaria patients with anti-Helicobacter pylori antibodies on the release of histamine by human mast cells

Objective To investigate the relationship between anti-Helicobacter pylori (Hp) antibodies and development of chronic urticaria (CU).Methods Fifty CU patients with positive 13C-urea breath test and anti-Hp antibodies,as well as 50 healthy human controls were recruited in this study.Serum samples were collected from all the subjects.The samples from the patients were subjected to tests for anti-high affinity IgE receptor (anti-FceRI) and-IgE antibodies.Human mast cells (HMCs) were classified into several parts to be incubated with the sera of patients with CU,the sera of healthy controls with anti-IgE and-FceRI antibodies respectively for 20 minutes.Those incubated with the sera of healthy controls without these antibodies served as the control.Subsequently,the levels of histamine released by HMCs were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).Results The sera of CU patients showed a stronger ability to activate HMCs to release histamine than those of healthy controls ((3.13 ± 0.93) μg/L vs (2.92 ± 0.75) μg/L,t =2.39,P ＜ 0.05).Anti-FceRI antibodies were detected in 4 patients,and antiIgE antibodies in 3 patients.A significant increase was observed in the levels of histamine released by HMCs incubated with anti-FceRI antibody-positive and anti-IgE antibody-positive patient-derived sera (t =4.82,6.34,respectively,both P ＜ 0.01),but not in those incubated with patient-derived sera only positive for anti-Hp antibodies (t =1.74,P ＞ 0.05) compared with those incubated with healthy control-derived sera.In comparison with the antibody-free healthy control-derived sera,those with anti-Hp IgG antibodies showed no significant effect on the release of histamines by HMCs (t =1.95,P ＞ 0.05),whereas those with anti-FceRI antibodies and anti-IgE antibodies exhibited an obvious promoting effect (t =3.72,3.02,respectively,both P ＜ 0.01).Conclusions The anti-Hp antibodies appears to have no role in the pathogenesis of CU,but the presence of anti-FceRI and anti-IgE antibodies may contribute to the initiation of CU in patients with Hp infection. Key words: Urticaria;  Helicobacter pylori;  Antibody;  Mast cells