Airway inflammation is related to increased nitric oxide production. It can be assessed noninvasively with exhaled nitric oxide measurement. As airway inflammation was supposed to be present in chronic urticaria and angioedema patients we hypothesized increased exhaled nitric oxide in this group. Twenty-six symptomatic chronic urticaria patients with an acute episode of pharynx angioedema (17 women and 9 men, median age 35) were included in the study group. None of the patients reported a history of asthma, allergic rhinitis or cigarette smoking. The control group consisted of 29 non-smoking healthy subjects (19 women and 10 men, median age 22) without any history of atopy. Exhaled nitric oxide measurement was performed in all subjects. Exhaled nitric oxide levels in the angioedema group did not differ statistically significantly from those detected in healthy subjects (15.5 ppb and 17.0 ppb respectively). Our results indicate the lack of airway inflammation in chronic urticaria patients with pharynx angioedema.
Keywords: angioedema; chronic urticaria; nitric oxide.