0000000000550372

AUTHOR

Maria Barrale

A comparison between two different in vitro basophil activation tests for gluten- and cow's milk protein sensitivity in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)-like patients.

Abstract Background: The diagnosis of food hypersensitivity (FH) in adult patients with gastrointestinal symptoms, beyond the immediate IgE-mediated clinical manifestations, is very often difficult. The aims of our study were to: 1) evaluate the frequency of FH in patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)-like clinical presentation; and 2) compare the diagnostic accuracy of two different methods of in vitro basophil activation tests. Methods: Three hundred and five patients (235 females, age range 18–66 years) were included and underwent a diagnostic elimination diet and successive double-blind placebo-controlled (DBPC) challenges. Two different methods of in vitro basophil activation te…

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The old and new tests for celiac disease: which is the best test combination to diagnose celiac disease in pediatric patients?

BACKGROUND In the diagnosis of celiac disease (CD), serum assays for anti-endomysium (EMA) and anti-transglutaminase (anti-tTG) antibodies have excellent diagnostic accuracy. However, these assays are less sensitive in young pediatric patients. Recently, a new ELISA test using deamidated gliadin peptides (DGP) as antigen has proved to be very sensitive and specific even in pediatric patients. In addition, anti-actin IgA antibodies (AAA) is another test that can be used in CD patients because antibody concentrations correlate with the degree of villous atrophy. This study evaluated the clinical accuracy of anti-tTG, EMA, AGA, anti-DGP and AAA and the effectiveness of these in different combi…

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A Cytologic Assay for Diagnosis of Food Hypersensitivity in Patients With Irritable Bowel Syndrome

BACKGROUND & AIMS: A percentage of patients with symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) suffer from food hypersensitivity (FH) and improve on a food-elimination diet. No assays have satisfactory levels of sensitivity for identifying patients with FH. We evaluated the efficacy of an in vitro basophil activation assay in the diagnosis of FH in IBS-like patients. METHODS: Blood samples were collected from 120 consecutive patients diagnosed with IBS according to Rome II criteria. We analyzed in vitro activation of basophils by food allergens (based on levels of CD63 expression), as well as total and food-specific immunoglobulin (Ig)E levels in serum. Effects of elimination diets and dou…

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Use of a comprehensive diagnostic algorithm for Anisakis allergy in a high seroprevalence Mediterranean setting

Summary Background.Diagnosis of anisakis allergy (AA) is based on the skin prick test (SPT) and specific IgE (sIgE) determination. Anyway, false positivity cases are due to cross reactivity with numerous allergens. The aim of the study was to evaluate the reliability of a comprehensive diagnostic algorithm for the AA. Methods.An observational study was conducted on a sample of consecutive subjects accessing the allergology outpatient ambulatories of two hospitals located in Western Sicily. All the recruited outpatients were tested by Skin Prick Test performed using anisakis extracts by ALK-Abello (Madrid, Spain). Specific IgE dosage for anisakis extracts was then performed by using ImmunoCA…

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Allergy to Polyethilenglicole of Anti-SARS CoV2 Vaccine Recipient: A Case Report of Young Adult Recipient and the Management of Future Exposure to SARS-CoV2

The main contraindication to the anti-SARS CoV2 vaccine is an anaphylactic reaction to a vaccine component. The need to vaccinate allergic people who are at higher risk can be of public health interest and this report shows a case of an allergic reaction to PEG of a HCW who had received the first dose of anti-SARS CoV2 vaccine. For 5 h after the administration of the vaccine, she had the appearance of erythematous spots on the face and neck, and a feeling of a slurred mouth and hoarseness. In order to treat the event, she was administered 8 mg intravenous dexamethasone, 1 vial intravenous chlorphenamine maleate, 250 mL intravenous 0.9% NaCl, and conventional oxygen therapy (2 L/min) with co…

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IgA anti-actin antibodies ELISA in coeliac disease: A multicentre study.

Previous studies have demonstrated that serum anti-actin antibodies are a reliable marker of intestinal damage severity in coeliac disease.To validate in a multicentre study the clinical usefulness of serum IgA anti-actin antibody ELISA and its possible use in monitoring intestinal mucosa lesions during gluten-free diet.Four centres recruited 205 newly diagnosed coeliac disease patients with villous atrophy, 80 healthy controls and 81 "disease" controls. Twelve coeliac disease patients on gluten-free diet but with persistent symptoms underwent serum IgA anti-actin antibody assay and intestinal histology evaluation. IgA anti-actin antibody ELISA was performed with a commercial kit. All coeli…

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