Abstract: Duan Chong, Zhou Ruiyan, Zheng Rui Department of Dermatology, Frist Hospital of Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan 030001, China Corresponding author: Zheng Rui, Email: zhengr2002@163.com 【Abstract】 Objective To evaluate the correlation of serum gastrin-releasing peptide （GRP） levels with disease activity and pruritus in patients with chronic spontaneous urticaria. Methods Totally, 61 patients with chronic spontaneous urticaria were enrolled from the Department of Dermatology of Frist Hospital of Shanxi Medical University between June 2016 and December 2016, and 59 health checkup examinees served as controls. Peripheral blood samples were collected from these patients and healthy controls. The urticaria activity score over 7 days （UAS7） and visual analogue scale （VAS） score was used to evaluate the disease activity and degree of pruritus respectively. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay （ELISA） was performed to detect the serum GRP levels in the patients and healthy controls. The correlations of serum GRP levels with disease activity and degree of pruritus were analyzed. Statistical analysis was carried out by Mann-Whitney U test or Kruskal-Wallis test and Spearman′s correlation analysis for evaluation of correlations of GRP levels with UAS7 and VAS scores using SPSS22.0 software. Results The serum GRP level was significantly higher in the patients with chronic spontaneous urticaria than in the healthy controls （M ［P25 - P75］: 11.2 ［7.31 - 22.23］ ng/L vs. 7.74 ［7.064 ± 9.71］ ng/L, Z = 4.44, P < 0.001）. Among the patients with chronic spontaneous urticaria, the serum GRP level was positively correlated with the UAS7 score （r = 0.36, P = 0.004） and the VAS score （r = 0.34, P = 0.007）. Conclusion The GRP level in the peripheral blood was elevated in the patients with chronic spontaneous urticaria, and positively correlated with the disease activity and degree of pruritus.

Key words: Urticaria, Gastrin?releasing peptide, Pruritus