TY - JOUR

T1 - An update on the use of antihistamines in managing chronic urticaria

AU - Xiang, Yi Kui

AU - Fok, Jie Shen

AU - Podder, Indrashis

AU - Yücel, Muhammed Burak

AU - Özkoca, Defne

AU - Thomsen, Simon Francis

AU - Kocatürk, Emek

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

PY - 2024

Y1 - 2024

N2 - Introduction: Urticaria, a mast cell-mediated skin disease, manifests as acute or chronic, with the latter divided into spontaneous and inducible types and requires individualized management, including identifying triggers and comorbidities. Antihistamines, particularly the second generation group, form the mainstay of primary treatment plans consisting of dosage adjustments and/or in combination with other treatment modalities depending on underlying disease control. Areas covered: A literature search was conducted using ‘antihistamines,’ ‘urticaria,’ ‘pharmacogenomics,’ ‘genomics,’ ‘biomarkers’ and ‘treatment response’ as key words. In this review, we focus on the comprehensive understanding and application of antihistamines in managing adult and adolescent patients with chronic urticaria. Expert opinion: Using antihistamines to treat urticaria is set to change significantly, focusing more on personalized medicine and identifying key biomarkers to enhance treatment response prediction. These changes aim to make treatments more specific and cost-effective by avoiding unnecessary tests. Applying new approaches in everyday clinical care faces challenges like proving the biomarkers’ reliability, updating current guidelines, and incorporating individualized treatments into standard procedures. Efforts should now concentrate on finding easy-to-use biomarkers, improving access to pharmacogenomics, understanding why some patients are resistant to treatment, and creating more specific treatment options based on patient needs.

AB - Introduction: Urticaria, a mast cell-mediated skin disease, manifests as acute or chronic, with the latter divided into spontaneous and inducible types and requires individualized management, including identifying triggers and comorbidities. Antihistamines, particularly the second generation group, form the mainstay of primary treatment plans consisting of dosage adjustments and/or in combination with other treatment modalities depending on underlying disease control. Areas covered: A literature search was conducted using ‘antihistamines,’ ‘urticaria,’ ‘pharmacogenomics,’ ‘genomics,’ ‘biomarkers’ and ‘treatment response’ as key words. In this review, we focus on the comprehensive understanding and application of antihistamines in managing adult and adolescent patients with chronic urticaria. Expert opinion: Using antihistamines to treat urticaria is set to change significantly, focusing more on personalized medicine and identifying key biomarkers to enhance treatment response prediction. These changes aim to make treatments more specific and cost-effective by avoiding unnecessary tests. Applying new approaches in everyday clinical care faces challenges like proving the biomarkers’ reliability, updating current guidelines, and incorporating individualized treatments into standard procedures. Efforts should now concentrate on finding easy-to-use biomarkers, improving access to pharmacogenomics, understanding why some patients are resistant to treatment, and creating more specific treatment options based on patient needs.

KW - antihistamines

KW - biomarkers

KW - pharmacogenomics

KW - treatment response

KW - Urticaria

U2 - 10.1080/14656566.2024.2345731

DO - 10.1080/14656566.2024.2345731

M3 - Review

C2 - 38654448

AN - SCOPUS:85192097289

VL - 25

SP - 551

EP - 569

JO - Expert Opinion on Pharmacotherapy

JF - Expert Opinion on Pharmacotherapy

SN - 1465-6566

IS - 5

ER -