Abstract: Tang Huimin, Yang Wenlin*, Huang Taoyuan, Yin Jiawen, Yang Jian. *Department of Dermatology, Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou 510260, China Corresponding author: Yang Wenlin, Email: yangwenlin@21cn.com 【Abstract】 Objective To investigate the relationship between negative acute phase proteins and chronic urticaria （CU）. Methods Fifty patients with CU were enrolled into this study, and divided into three grades, i.e., mild （grade 1）, moderate （grade 2） and severe （grade 3） according to symptoms. Twenty-eight health checkup examinees served as the control group. Immunoturbidimetry was performed to determine serum levels of prealbumin （PA） and transferrin （TRF）. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was conducted to measure serum levels of insulin-like growth factor-1 （IGF-1） and tumor necrosis factor-α （TNF-α）. Statistical analysis was carried out to assess differences in these indices between these two groups, the relationship among these indices and between these indices and disease severity. Results Compared with the control group, the patients with CU showed reduced serum levels of PA （（229.99 ± 54.16） vs. （272.06 ± 36.42） mg/L, t =3.667, P < 0.05） and IGF-1 （（177.23 ± 46.48） vs. （239.88 ± 45.16） μg/L, t = 5.748, P < 0.05）, but higher serum levels of TNF-α （（25.39 ± 11.01） vs. （14.13 ± 6 .12） ng/L, t = 4.989, P < 0.05）, and similar serum levels of TRF （（2.48 ± 0.49） vs. （2.48 ± 0.25） g/L, P > 0.05）. The serum level of PA showed a significant negative correlation with that of TNF-α （r = － 0.312, P < 0.05）, as well as with disease severity （r =－ 0.635, P < 0.01）, whereas the serum level of TNF-α showed a significant positive correlation with disease severity （r = 0.409, P < 0.01）, and no statistical correlation was found between the remaining indices （all P > 0.05） in the patients with CU. Conclusions Serum levels of some negative acute phase proteins decrease and negatively correlate with disease severity in patients with CU. Acute phase response may be involved in the occurrence of CU.

Key words: Urticaria, Prealbumin, Transferrin, Insulin-like growth factor binding protein 1, Tumor necrosis factor-α