Pentraxin-3 as a local inflammatory marker in chronic spontaneous urticaria

The pentraxin family plays an important role in the acute phase response to immune-inflammatory processes. The short pentraxin, C-reactive protein (CRP) is a marker of chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) activity, reflecting the systemic effects of inflammatory mediators associated with the disease. It is known, that the long pentraxin, pentraxin 3 (PTX3) is produced at the sites of inflammation, therefore may better reflect activity of the local inflammatory processes. To assess the relevance of PTX3 in CSU patients and its association with CRP.

Plasma PTX3 and serum CRP concentrations were measured in patients with CSU of varying severity as well as in the healthy subjects.

The concentrations of PTX3 and CRP were significantly increased in more severe CSU patients, when compared to mild CSU and the healthy controls. There was a significant correlation between concentrations of PTX3 and CRP.

In contrast to CRP, PTX3 is produced at the sites of inflammation, therefore it seems that elevated PTX3 may result from activation of cells involved in local urticarial processes. Finally, the correlation between these two pentraxins suggests that they may be upregulated by the same mechanisms associated with acute phase response in CSU.