Search results for "ALLERGEN"
showing 10 items of 253 documents
Cigarette Smoking, But Not Sensitization toAlternaria, Is Associated with Severe Asthma in Urban Patients
2001
Hereditary susceptibility and allergen exposure have been identified as general risk factors for asthma. However, risk factors for severe asthma still remain to be identified. To further assess and quantify risk factors associated with severe asthma in adult patients apart from clinical exacerbations, 306 randomly selected subjects (mean age 40+/-17 years, 46% males) presenting to an inner city pulmonary practice between 1995 and 1996 were retrospectively investigated. Of these, 117 patients were atopic, 112 had current asthma, and 22 asthmatics had severe asthma. Risk factors associated with atopy were family history of atopy and any domestic pet ownership (OR: 3.1, 95% CI: 1.64-6.1). Asth…
CD4-mediated regulatory T-cell activation inhibits the development of disease in a humanized mouse model of allergic airway disease
2012
Background Based on their potency to control allergic diseases, regulatory T (Treg) cells represent a promising target for novel strategies to interfere with allergic airway inflammation. We have previously demonstrated that stimulation of the CD4 molecule on human Treg cells activates their suppressive activity in vitro and in vivo . Objective We sought to determine the effect of CD4-mediated Treg-cell activation on pulmonary inflammation in a humanized mouse model of allergic airway inflammation. Methods PBMCs obtained from donors allergic to birch pollen or from healthy donors were injected into NOD-severe combined immunodeficiency γc −/− mice, followed by allergen airway challenges and …
Occupational exposure to immunologically active agents and risk for lymphoma: The European Epilymph case-control study
2013
Objectives: Allergies and asthma may be protective for the development of lymphoma. We evaluated whether occupational allergens that provoke immune reactivity and asthma through an IgE-mediated pathway are protective for lymphoma. Methods: The Epilymph study includes histologically or cytologically confirmed Hodgkin, B-cell, and T-cell lymphoma cases from six European countries (Spain, France, Germany, Italy, Ireland, and Czech Republic) recruited in 1998-2004. Controls were frequency matched to cases by age, gender, and study centre. Lifetime occupational exposure to seven high molecular weight (HMW) agents was evaluated through an asthma-specific job-exposure matrix. 2205 lymphoma cases a…
Specific allergen immunotherapy for the treatment of allergic asthma: a review of current evidence.
2017
Asthma is frequently associated with atopy, characterized by the production of specific immunoglobulin E in response to environmental allergens. Currently, two types of allergen immunotherapy (AIT) are used in clinical practice: subcutaneous and sublingual immunotherapy, both accepted as key components of the therapeutic repertoire for allergic rhinitis and conjunctivitis. However, their role in asthma remains controversial. The present document is aimed at providing the clinicians with a review of the evidence on the use of AIT in asthma, focusing on the most relevant aspects of its mechanism of action, its efficacy, and existing data on safety, tolerability, and cost-effectivity, both in …
Specific IgE against Staphylococcus aureus enterotoxins: an independent risk factor for asthma.
2012
The role of IgE in patients with severe asthma is not fully understood.We sought to investigate whether IgE to Staphylococcus aureus enterotoxins might be relevant to disease severity in adult asthmatic patients.Specific IgE antibody concentrations in serum against enterotoxins, grass pollen (GP), and house dust mite allergens and total IgE levels were measured in adult cohorts of 69 control subjects, 152 patients with nonsevere asthma, and 166 patients with severe asthma. Severe asthma was defined as inadequately controlled disease despite high-dose inhaled corticosteroids plus at least 2 other controller therapies, including oral steroids.Enterotoxin IgE positivity was significantly great…
A Cytologic Assay for Diagnosis of Food Hypersensitivity in Patients With Irritable Bowel Syndrome
2010
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…
A European multicentre photopatch test study
2012
The two most common agent groups currently responsible for photoallergic contact dermatitis (PACD) are organic ultraviolet (UV) absorbers in sunscreens and topical nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). However, availability of information on the photoallergenic potential of these agents is scarce.To obtain current information on the frequency of PACD to 19 organic UV absorbers and five topical NSAIDs, including newer agents, in common usage in Europe.A prospective, multicentre photopatch test study was conducted with 1031 patients attending for investigation of suspected PACD in 30 centres across 12 European countries.A total of 346 PACD reactions in 200 (19·4%) subjects occurred. …
Simultaneous sodium lauryl sulphate testing improves the diagnostic validity of allergic patch tests. Results from a prospective multicentre study of…
2005
Summary Background There is evidence that a higher skin susceptibility may induce nonspecific erythematous or weak positive reactions to contact allergens in patch testing. Objectives To evaluate whether simultaneous application of sodium lauryl sulphate (SLS) along with diagnostic patch tests with contact allergens can provide information regarding skin irritability which may help to discriminate allergic from nonspecific irritant reactions to contact allergens. Methods Between July 2001 and June 2003, this prospective study collected patch test data of 5971 patients from 19 centres in Germany and Austria in the Information Network of Departments of Dermatology (IVDK). In addition to co…
Tree-pollen allergy is efficiently treated by short-term immunotherapy (STI) with seven preseasonal injections of molecular standardized allergens.
1998
The efficacy and tolerance of short-term immunotherapy (STI) by seven preseasonal injections of tree-pollen allergens (ALK7 Fruhbluhermischung) was investigated in a double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter study with 111 rhinoconjunctivitis patients. Nasal and bronchial symptoms simultaneously analyzed, and nasal symptoms as a single end point, but not the overall score of nasal, bronchial, and conjunctival symptoms, showed a significantly lower increase with STI during birch-pollen exposure (both P=0.033, n=105, Mann-Whitney U-test). However, a selective analysis with patients from centers with high recruitment figures (n> or =10 patients, n=29 STI, n=32 placebo) showed a significant…
The MOAHLFA index of irritant sodium lauryl sulfate reactions: first results of a multicentre study on routine sodium lauryl sulfate patch testing
2004
In a multicentre study of the German Contact Dermatitis Research Group, sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) 0.25% and 0.5% aq. has been added to routine allergen patch tests to assess its properties as a convenient diagnostic indicator of individual susceptibility to irritation at the time of patch testing. Previous studies indicated that irritant SLS reactivity may be related to individual factors such as age and sex. As these factors are, in turn, among the important predictors of contact allergy to many allergens, e.g. summarized in the 'MOAHLFA index', the impact of the MOAHLFA factors on irritant SLS patch test reactivity, and thus a potential for confounding, was assessed in the 5971 particip…