Oral tofacitinib in refractory chronic spontaneous urticaria

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Case Series

Author Details : Elen Elu Shibu, Gauri Singh, Manjyot Gautam, Sharmila Patil, Kiran Godse*

Volume : 9, Issue : 4, Year : 2023

Article Page : 235-239

https://doi.org/10.18231/j.ijced.2023.045

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Abstract

Background: Chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) is a skin condition marked by the emergence of wheals on their own that persist for six weeks or more. CSU is quite common, affecting up to 1% of the population, and has a serious detrimental effect on a patient's health and quality of life. Antihistamines (AH) are currently the backbone of treatment for chronic urticaria (CU), however up to 40% of patients do not respond to even large (four-fold) daily dosages of AH. Tofacitinib is a small-molecule that inhibits intracellular signalling of several important cytokines involved in the inflammatory cascade and blocks JAK1/3. While there are reports of tofacitinib's positive effects in patients with mast cell activation disorder, there are none in those with urticaria.
Case Series: The aim of our study is to assess the efficacy of oral tofacitinib in refractory chronic spontaneous urticaria. 5 cases of refractory CSU between the age group of 20 to 40 years were included in our study and they were followed up for 6 months. The patients were started on oral tofacitinib 5mg twice a day. On every weekly follow-up, we used clinical assessment, urticaria activity score and urticaria control test to evaluate the treatment response
Conclusion: The usage of oral tofacitinib significantly improves the clinical picture in refractory CSU. Although more research is required to determine Tofacitinib's effectiveness in CSU, our study raises the possibility that it could represent a novel therapeutic option for individuals with refractory CSU.
 
Keywords: Chronic Spontaneous Urticaria, JAK inhibitors, Tofacitinib

How to cite : Shibu E E, Singh G, Gautam M, Patil S, Godse K, Oral tofacitinib in refractory chronic spontaneous urticaria. IP Indian J Clin Exp Dermatol 2023;9(4):235-239

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