Objective: Autologous serum skin testing is a practical test for basophil histamine release which is used in the diagnosis of chronic autoimmune urticaria. Although the exact autoimmune pathogenesis of allergic diseases of the upper respiratory tract remains a matter of debate, recent studies have reported positive autologous serum skin tests in both allergic and non-allergic rhinitis, asthma sufferers, and even in healthy controls. In this study, we aim to evaluate positive results from autologous serum testing in hayfever sufferers and to compare the results with those from healthy controls.
Materials and methods
The study included 76 seasonal allergic rhinitis patients aged between 18-65 years and 51 healthy volunteers who underwent autologous serum skin testing. The Chi-squared test was used for comparisons between the two groups.
Autologous serum testing proved positive in 29 of the patients with allergic rhinitis and in 10 of the healthy controls. The number of positive results from autologous serum testing was found to be significantly higher in patients with allergic rhinitis than in the control group.
Conclusion
From the results of this research and the information found in the literature, it appears that autologous serum skin testing has uses beyond merely detecting chronic urticaria. There may be an advantage in evaluating the common features and serum factor in patients with allergic rhinitis and urticaria who show positivity to autologous serum skin testing.