Abstract: Objective To investigate the role of IL-13 in the patients with acute and chronic urticaria.Methods In 22 patients with acute urticaria,20 patients with chronic urticaria and 19 normal controls,the levels of IL-13,IL-4 and IFN-γ of peripheral T lymphocytes were measured by flow cytometry.The serum concentrations of IL-13 and total IgE were tested by ELISA.Results The Results of flow cytometry showed that the level of IL-13 of the patients with acute urticaria was significantly higher than that of the normal controls (P<0.05).Although the expression level of IL-13 also increased in the patients with chronic urticaria,there was no significant difference compared with that of the normal controls.There was no significant difference in the expiession level of IL-4 between the acute and chronic urticaria patients.The IL-13 Results measured by ELISA were consistent with those by flow cytometry.There were no changes in the expression of IFN-γ in these patients.The total serum IgE level of patients with acute and chronic urticaria was significantly higher than that of normal controls (P<0.01).Conclusion IL-13 may play an important role in the pathogenesis of urticaria,especially in acute urticaria.

Key words: Urticaria, Interleukin-13, Interleukin-4