ISRN allergy最新文献

Resolution of egg allergy occurs in the majority of egg allergic children. Positive specific IgE antibodies to ovomucoid (OVM) have been suggested to be of greater predictive value for persistent egg allergy than specific IgE to egg white. The performance of OVM-specific IgE antibody levels in a cohort of children referred for a routine egg challenge was compared with egg white specific IgE levels in predicting a positive egg challenge. 24/47 subjects had persistent egg allergy. Receiver operating characteristic analysis showed that OVM-specific IgE testing was the most useful test for the diagnosis of persistent egg allergy. The optimal decision points for the prediction of persistent egg allergy were >0.35 kUA/L for specific IgE levels to both EW and OVM, and ≥3 mm for SPT. Children with specific IgE levels suggestive of persistent egg allergy need not be subject to an egg provocation challenge, reducing both costs and risks to the child.

Background. The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy of epicutaneous immunotherapy (EPIT) to sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT) in a model of mice sensitized to Phleum pratense pollen. Methods. BALB/c mice were sensitized by sub-cutaneous route to pollen protein extract mixed treated for 8 weeks, using sham, EPIT, or SLIT. Measurements involved the serological response and cytokine profile from reactivated splenocytes, plethysmography after aerosol challenge to pollen, cell, and cytokine contents in the bronchoalveolar lavages (BALs). Results. After immunotherapy, sIgE was significantly decreased in the treated groups compared to sham (P < 0.001), whereas sIgG2a increased with EPIT and SLIT (P < 0.001 and P < 0.005 versus sham). Reactivated splenocytes secreted higher levels of Th2 cytokines with sham (P < 0.01). Penh values were higher in sham than EPIT and SLIT. Eosinophil recruitment in BAL was significantly reduced only by EPIT (P < 0.01). Conclusion. In this model of mice sensitized to pollen, EPIT was at least as efficient as SLIT.

The current study examined the relationship between self-reported allergy severity, depressive and anxious symptoms, and attitude toward illness in adolescents and young adults (AYAs) with allergies. Participants were 214 undergraduate students between the ages of 17-25 years with self-reported allergies. Participants completed the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), the Zung Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), and the Child Attitude Toward Illness Scale (CATIS) as measures of depressive symptoms, anxious symptoms, and attitude toward illness, respectively. Using the bootstrapping method, results revealed that attitude toward illness mediated the relationship between self-reported disease severity and depressive and anxious symptoms. Results of the current study suggest that attitude toward illness is one pathway by which subjective disease severity impacts psychological functioning in AYAs with allergies.

Bedding dust is a mixture of many components, of which the house dust mite (HDM) allergen, Der p 1, is the most allergenic. There has been little work to investigate the effect of other bedding dust components on HDM sensitisation. The objective of the study was to determine the effect of endotoxin in bedding dust on the allergic response in HDM-sensitised individuals. Twenty-nine house dust mite-sensitised adults were skin prick and allergen patch tested against a sterile solution of their own bedding dust and against a solution containing the same concentration of Der p 1 as the bedding solution for comparison. There was no significant difference in wheal size between the diluted house dust mite solution and the bedding dust in spite of their high levels of endotoxin. Symptomatic subjects had larger, but not statistically significant, responses to commercial house dust mite solution than asymptomatic subjects. Allergen patch test responses were negative in 22/29 of subjects using either bedding dust solutions or comparable diluted house dust mite solutions. An individual's own bedding dust does not appear to contain factors that enhance skin prick test or atopy patch test responses to house dust mites.

Background. The presence of horse allergen in public places is not well-known, unlike for instance cat and dog allergens, which have been studied extensively. The aim was to investigate the presence of horse allergen in schools and to what extent the influence of number of children with regular horse contact have on indoor allergen levels. Methods. Petri dishes were used to collect airborne dust samples during one week in classrooms. In some cases, vacuumed dust samples were also collected. All samples were extracted, frozen and analysed for Equ cx content shortly after sampling, and some were re-analysed six years later with a more sensitive ELISA assay. Results. Horse allergen levels were significantly higher in classrooms, in which many children had horse contact, regardless of sampling method. Allergen levels in extracts from Petri dish samples, which had been kept frozen, dropped about 53% over a six-year period. Conclusion. Horse allergen was present in classrooms and levels were higher in classrooms where many children had regular horse contact in their leisure time. This suggests that transfer of allergens takes place via contaminated clothing. Measures should be taken to minimize possible transfer and deposition of allergens in pet-free environments, such as schools.

Asthma is an inflammatory disorder of the airways, and the airway epithelium has the central role in its pathogenesis. In general, the airway inflammation is characterised by the infiltration of the epithelium and submucosa by a range of inflammatory cells driven largely by Th-2 lymphocytes, eosinophils, and mast cells. The pathogenic mechanisms of nonatopic asthma in comparison to its atopic counterpart have always been a subject of debate. Although clinically are two distinct entities, more similarities than differences have been observed between the two in terms of immunopathogenesis, underlying IgE mechanisms, and so on. in a number of previous studies. More information has become available in recent years comparing the ultrastructure of the epithelium in these two types of asthma. A comparison of airway epithelium in atopic and nonatopic asthma is presented here from the available information in the literature. Similarities outnumber the differences, until we unravel the mystery surrounding these two important phenotypes of asthma in more detail.

The expression of allergic phenotypes involves complex inter-relationships among several Th2 and Th1 cytokines as well as the regulator cytokine interleukin (IL)-10. These direct or indirect interrelationships may distort the true associations of cytokine responses with these phenotypes. In this study, we aimed to clarify the effects of the regulatory cytokine IL-10 and Th1 cytokine interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) on allergic phenotypes after adjusting for the correlations with Th2 cytokines. After adjusting for Th2 cytokines, IL-10 and IFN-γ were protective against atopy. Adjusted levels of IL-10 and IFN-γ stimulated with house-dust mite (HDM) were significantly lower in atopics than non-atopics, for IL-10 adjusting for IL-5 (P = 0.002), IL-13 (P = 0.012), IL-9 (P = 0.016), and IL-4 (P = 0.043), and for IFN-γ adjusting for IL-5 (P = 0.005), IL-13 (P = 0.005), and IL-9 (P = 0.037). IL-10 and IFN-γ levels stimulated with phytohaemagglutinin (PHA) and staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB) exhibited a similar pattern. The adjusted levels of IL-10 and IFN-γ stimulated with HDM, PHA or SEB were all significantly negatively correlated with total serum IgE, except for IFN-γ stimulated with SEB. Levels of Th2 cytokines distort the associations of IL-10 and IFN-γ with allergic phenotypes. Removing the covariance with Th2 cytokines, both IL-10 and IFN-γ were protective against atopy.

Changes in diet can also have dramatic effects on the composition of gut microbiota. Commensal bacteria of the gastrointestinal tract are critical regulators of health and disease by protecting against pathogen encounter whilst also maintaining immune tolerance to certain allergens. Moreover, consumption of fibre and vegetables typical of a non-Western diet generates substantial quantities of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) which have potent anti-inflammatory properties. Dietary interventions such as probiotic supplementation have been investigated for their pleiotropic effects on microbiota composition and immune function. Probiotics may restore intestinal dysbiosis and improve clinical disease through elevated SCFA levels in the intestine. Although the precise mechanisms by which such dietary factors mediate these effects, SCFA metabolites such as butyrate also function as histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACi), that can act on the epigenome through chromatin remodeling changes. The aim of this review is to provide an overview of HDAC enzymes and to discuss the biological effects of HDACi. Further, we discuss the important relationship between diet and the balance between health and disease and how novel dietary interventions such as probiotics could be alternative approach for the prevention and/or treatment of chronic inflammatory disease through modulation of the intestinal microbiome.

Food allergy frequently precedes or coexists with respiratory allergy, and although restriction of contacts with the allergen is the elected clinical procedure, oral immunotherapy (OIT) has proven to be surprisingly efficient in clinical trials. We investigated whether prolonged restriction and voluntary exposure of previously sensitized (immunized) mice to ovalbumin (OVA) in the drinking water would alter subsequent responses to bronchial (aerosol) challenge with OVA. We found a significant suppression of bronchial inflammation, with marked reduction of eosinophils. IL-4, CCL-2, and CCL-11 are not associated with elevation in IL-10 production or Foxp3 expression, with only minor digestive symptoms.

Intestinal T cells from gluten sensitivity/celiac disease patients respond to a heterogeneous array of peptides. Our study extended this heterogeneity to humoral immune response to various wheat proteins and peptides in patients with gluten sensitivity or Crohn's disease. IgG and IgA antibodies in sera from those patients and healthy control subjects were measured against an array of wheat antigens and peptides. In gluten-sensitive patients, IgG reacted most against transglutaminase, prodynorphin, wheat extract, and α-, γ-, and ω-gliadin; IgA reacted most against wheat then transglutaminase, glutenin, and other peptides. In the sera of Crohn's disease patients, IgG reacted most against wheat and wheat germ agglutinin then transglutaminase, prodynorphin, α-, and γ-gliadin; IgA reacted foremost against prodynorphin then transglutaminase and α-gliadin. These results showed a substantial heterogeneity in the magnitude of IgG and IgA response against various wheat antigens and peptides. Measurements of IgG and IgA antibodies against such an array of wheat peptides and antigens can enhance the sensitivity and specificity of serological assays for gluten sensitivity and celiac disease and may also detect silent celiac disease or its overlap with inflammatory bowel disease.