Nutritional Guidelines for Individuals Diagnosed With Chronic Spontaneous Urticaria: A Scope Review

Abstract

Chronic Spontaneous Urticaria (CSU) is defined by the spontaneous appearance of papules with or without angioedema, which persist for more than six weeks, and may or may not have a known cause. Urticaria is triggered by vasodilation, increased vascular permeability and edema, due to the release of histamine from mast cells, which can be caused by various substances. The diagnosis of CSU involves the exclusion of differential diagnoses, identification of triggering factors and assessment of impacts on individuals' lives1. Treatment includes general care, combating infectious agents and use of medications such as antihistamines, corticosteroids and, in difficult cases, antikotrienes, immunomodulators and anti-IgE. This is a scope review. The searches were carried out in October 2023, in the Virtual Library Scientific Electronic Library Online (Scielo), in the Virtual Health Library (VHL) and in Pubmed. The search strategies were used: diet AND chronic urticaria; diet AND chronic urticaria. In scientific articles, available in full, written in Portuguese, English or Spanish, published in the last 10 years (2013-2023). The initial search returned 203 files, of which, after initially applying the filters (availability of full texts, languages, year), as well as excluding duplicates, 48 ​​texts were read as titles and abstracts. Data synthesis was carried out qualitatively, based on Bardin's Content Analysis. The results demonstrated that CSU is a disease whose etiology has not been completely elucidated, and its treatment is limited to symptoms, with the aim of inhibiting histamine release. The potential of nutritional therapy was also observed, whether with dietary limitation or micronutrient supplementation, as an adjuvant in the management of crises and reducing their severity.