Adjunct therapy with probiotics for chronic urticaria in children: randomised placebo-controlled trial

BACKGROUNDS: Chronic urticaria is a common disorder of the skin, characterised by recurrent skin wheals and angioedema. Recent reports have shown that altered diversity and composition of the gut microbiota may lead to imbalances in immune regulation, a causal factor in the occurrence of chronic urticaria. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of the Yimingjia(®) probiotic formula in the adjuvant treatment of chronic urticaria in children. METHODS: We enrolled 206 children with confirmed diagnoses of chronic urticaria and randomly assigned them to the treatment (n = 104) or placebo group (n = 102). The children in each group were treated with desloratadine dry suspension, and those in the treatment group also received Yimingjia(®). Clinical efficacy was evaluated at 1, 2 and 4 weeks. RESULTS: Clinical symptom scores did not differ significantly at weeks 1 and 2 (p > 0.05), but at 4 weeks, wheal size and attack frequency were significantly reduced in the treatment group (p = 0.049 and 0.03, respectively). The overall response rate (significant improvement + complete response) significantly differed between the treatment (80.8%) and placebo groups (62.5%) (χ(2) = 4.20, p = 0.04). CONCLUSION: Adjunct therapy with Yimingjia(®) was safe and effective at 4 weeks in the treatment of chronic urticaria in children. The study was registered under trial number NCT03328897.