Mast cells are critically involved in serum-mediated vascular leakage in chronic urticaria beyond high-affinity IgE receptor stimulation

Chronic urticaria (CU) is one of the most common skin disorders whose pathogenic mechanisms are not fully clarified. Autoimmune aetiology can be ascribed to 45% of patients with CU, and basophil histamine release is positive in 40% of cases. Our aim was to use a novel approach to evaluate the serum permeabilizing effect to identify the mediators of endothelial cell (EC) leakage and to define the role of mast cells (MCs) in the process