Chronic urticaria (CU) is a common clinical disease that seriously affects the quality of life of patients, but its pathogenesis is still not fully understood. The autoimmunity of chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) has been highly concerned and intensively studied in the past. Atopy is also one of the important characteristics of CU, but it has not been fully recognized. Atopy is a predisposition to respond immunologically to allergens, leading to type 2 inflammation and overproduction of immunoglobulin E (IgE). Compared with the healthy population, patients with CU have a higher proportion of atopy, and atopic background is correlated with the clinical characteristics of CU. The total IgE level of CU patients is significantly higher than that of healthy people. Although it is not higher than that of classic allergic diseases, its level is also closely related to CU. Exogenous allergens, autoallergens and their specific IgE, which are closely related to atopy, have been gradually discovered in CU, and their roles in the pathogenesis of CU are also being studied. Atopic inflammation is equally present in CU, both locally and systemically. This review summarizes up-to-date knowledge regarding atopy and CU, and speculates that atopic CSU or atopic CIndU indeed exists, providing a fresh perspective for comprehensively understanding the clinical characteristics of CU and further studying its pathogenesis.

Symptomatic dermographism (SD), also known as urticaria factitia, is the most common form of chronic inducible urticarias, occurring in approximately 2%-5% of the general population. 1 It typically presents as stripe-shaped wheals after shear force is applied to the skin, accompanied by a local itching and/or burning sensation. The etiology of SD is still unknown. It has been indicated that SD may be associated with systemic use of penicillins, famotidine and atorvastatin, and SD following amoxicillin and cefaclor-induced urticarial rash has been reported. 2 Minocycline is widely used in the treatment of acne, rosacea, and other inflammatory skin diseases. The association of minocycline with SD has not been previously reported.Herein, we present four cases of SD induced by oral minocycline.

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Herpes zoster (HZ), also called shingles, characterized by unilateral painful erythema blister, is a common disease and patients are often referred to the dermatology department first at onset. The management of HZ in the acute phase includes antiviral drugs and analgesics, and adjuvant agents like gabapentin, tricyclic antidepressants, or glucocorticoids. Phototherapy like photodynamic therapy (PDT) 1 and low-level laser therapy (LLLT) 2 have been reported to have adjuvant effects in the treatment of the acute phase of HZ. Here, we report a case of herpes zoster with severe acute inflammations