The effect of anti-IgE therapy in knee osteoarthritis: a pilot observational study.

Osteoarthritis is a whole-joint disease and its pathogenesis remains poorly understood. Recent evidence proposed the importance of the innate immune system as trigger of synovium inflammation following the degeneration of cartilage. Moreover, synovial mast cells (MCs) might be correlated with pain and disability reported by patients. Anti IgE therapy represents a new class of MCs stabilizing agent, licensed for people with asthma and chronic urticaria. Therefore, we studied if the stabilizing effect of anti IgE would improve the pain and disability in patients affected by knee osteoarthritis and atopic disease. This pilot study provides the first evidence that anti IgE treatment induces a short-term clinical improvement supporting the role of MCs in osteoarthritis.