SAN ANTONIO (Reuters Health) - Is interstitial cystitis (IC) an allergic disorder? Clinicians at the University of Tennessee in Memphis think so, based on their treatment of a woman with IC whose bladder symptoms virtually disappeared with the introduction of anti-IgE therapy.

"IC is a real problem - about 500,000 people in the US suffer from IC, 90% are women, and there is no cure for it. I think we may have found a good treatment for cystitis," Dr. Tai June Yoo told Reuters Health.

At the 61st annual meeting here of the American Academy of Allergy Asthma and Immunology, Dr. Yoo's colleague, Dr. Brandon D. Hill described the case of a 28-year-old woman with asthma and allergic rhinitis. She also happened to have a 3-year history of IC. She had the typical bladder symptoms of IC including urinary frequency, urgency, and pelvic pain, symptoms that disrupted her daily life and were refractory to standard treatment.

While taking specific immunotherapy (SIT) for her allergic symptoms, the woman experienced anaphylaxis. She continued to have anaphylactic reactions even when the SIT shots were significantly diluted. Anti-IgE therapy with omalizumab was instituted in an attempt to prevent anaphylactic reactions during SIT.

"Once omalizumab was started, she responded beautifully - immunotherapy built up quickly - and remarkably, all of her cystitis symptoms disappeared," Dr. Yoo said. "The cystoscopic pictures of this patient who recovered by our treatment are impressive," he added.

"I believe IC could be an allergic disorder and the bladder is a target organ," Dr. Yoo said. "We have to figure out how the mast cells in the bladder get activated, maybe by pollen allergens or cross-reacting food allergens in the circulation," he said, adding that he's recently submitted a research grant proposal to study this further.

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