Search results for "Allergen"

Tablet-based sublingual immunotherapy for respiratory allergy

2017

Allergic respiratory disease represents a significant and expanding health problem worldwide. The gold standard of therapeutic intervention is still grucocorticosteroids, although they are not effective in all patients and may cause side effects. Allergen Immunotherapy has been administrated as subcutaneous injections for treatment of allergic rhinoconjunctivitis and asthma and has been practiced for the past century. Sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT) tablets are now available for grass- or ragweed-induced rhinoconjunctivitis and will be available in Spain for house dust mite (HDM)-induced rhinoconjunctivitis and asthma in the next months. In this review, new developments in the field of tabl…

Mast cell-derived tumour necrosis factor is essential for allergic airway disease

2007

Mast cells are thought to contribute to allergic airway disease. However, the role of mast cell-produced mediators, such as tumour necrosis factor (TNF), for the development of allergic airway disease is unclear. In order to define the role of mast cells in acute allergic airway disease two strains of mast cell-deficient mice (Kit W/Wv and Kit W-sh/W-sh ) were studied. Compared with their wild-type littermates, Kit W/Wv and Kit W-sh/W-sh mice developed significantly lower airway responsiveness to methacholine and less airway inflammation and goblet cell metaplasia, following sensitisation in the absence of adjuvant and airway challenge. Transfer of bone marrow-derived mast cells (BMMCs) fro…

Allergy immunotherapy across the life cycle to promote active and healthy ageing: from research to policies: An AIRWAYS Integrated Care Pathways (ICP…

2016

Allergic diseases often occur early in life and persist throughout life. This life-course perspective should be considered in allergen immunotherapy. In particular it is essential to understand whether this al treatment may be used in old age adults. The current paper was developed by a working group of AIRWAYS integrated care pathways for airways diseases, the model of chronic respiratory diseases of the European Innovation Partnership on active and healthy ageing (DG CONNECT and DG Santé). It considered (1) the political background, (2) the rationale for allergen immunotherapy across the life cycle, (3) the unmet needs for the treatment, in particular in preschool children and old age adu…

Climate advocacy among Italian pediatric pulmonologists: A national survey on the effects of climate change on respiratory allergies.

2022

Climate change (CC) is expected to negatively impact respiratory health due to air pollution and increased aeroallergen exposure. Children are among the most vulnerable populations due to high ventilation rates, small peripheral airways, and developing respiratory and immunological systems. To assess the current knowledge among Italian pediatric pulmonologists on the potential effects of CC on pediatric respiratory allergic diseases, a national survey was launched online from February 2020 to February 2021. The members of the Italian Pediatric Respiratory Society (SIMRI) were contacted by email and 117 questionnaires were returned (response rate 16.4%). 72.6% of respondents were females, 53…

Oral N-acetylcysteine attenuates the rat pulmonary inflammatory response to antigen.

2003

Oxidative stress is involved in the pathophysiology of inflammatory airway diseases including asthma; therefore, antioxidants might be of clinical benefit in asthma treatment. In the present study, the effects of N-acetylcysteine on sensitised brown Norway rats were examined. N-Acetylcysteine (3 mmol kg body weight(-1) administered orally) was given daily for 1 week before challenge and various antigen-induced pulmonary responses were studied. Antigen exposure increased lipid peroxidation in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) and oxidised glutathione levels in lung tissue 2 h after challenge. Lung nuclear transcription factor-KB-binding activity was increased 2 h after challenge, and BALF …

Should atopy be assessed in elderly patients with respiratory symptoms suggestive of asthma?

2010

Aging is associated with modifications of the immune system and this could contribute to a reduced prevalence of allergic disease in the elderly. Atopy has rarely been considered in the clinical assessment of the geriatric respiratory patient. This article is a review of the available literature assessing the impact of age on atopy in the asthmatic patient. In the majority of papers, we found a lower prevalence of atopy in the most advanced ages, both in healthy subjects and in individuals affected by allergic respiratory diseases. No large, longitudinal studies performed in the general population have been conducted to confirm this observation. Although available data seem to favor the dec…

Impact of allergic rhinitis on asthma: effects on bronchodilation testing

2008

A remarkable relationship exists between the upper and lower airways. Bronchial obstruction is a paramount feature of asthma, and its reversibility is considered a main step in asthma diagnosis.To investigate the degree of bronchodilation and possible risk factors related to it in patients with moderate-severe persistent allergic rhinitis alone.A total of 375 patients with moderate-severe persistent allergic rhinitis and 115 controls were prospectively and consecutively evaluated by means of clinical examination, skin prick testing, spirometry, and bronchodilation testing.Patients with rhinitis showed a significant increase in forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV) after bronchodilation…

Factors that influence exhaled nitric oxide in Italian schoolchildren

2008

Conflicting results exist about the meaning of exhaled nitric oxide (eNO) in epidemiologic studies, mainly because of the numerous factors that may affect the measurement.To evaluate the role of the factors that influence eNO levels in a sample of schoolchildren with or without respiratory diseases. We studied 335 schoolchildren, ages 10 to 16 years, from 8 schools in Palermo, Italy. After a respiratory questionnaire was completed, spirometry, skin tests, and eNO measurements were performed.Among 335 children, 13.7% reported symptoms of bronchial asthma, 46.9% reported symptoms of rhinitis, and 39.4% were asymptomatic. The ratio of forced expiratory volume in 1 second to forced vital capaci…

2015

In a recently performed survey with 4000 randomly selected persons, 68 (7.2 %) of 948 respondents reported intolerance and/or allergy-like symptoms to wine. The aim of this study was to analyze whether a real sensitization to wine proteins could be confirmed by diagnostic and/or immunological settings. For this purpose, 19 subjects with self-reported intolerance to wine of the invited subjects and 10 controls without a history of intolerance participated in an allergological examination (skin prick test, ImmunoCAP for determination of specific IgE antibodies, CAST for testing basophil activation, ImmunoBlot for testing specificity of IgE-antibodies). For the allergological work-up red and w…

Tropomyosin: A panallergen that causes a worldwide allergic problem

2021

Background: Panallergens are proteins that take part in key processes of organisms and, therefore, are ubiquitously distributed with highly conserved sequences and structures. One class of these panallergens is composed of the tropomyosins. The highly heat-stable tropomyosins comprise the major allergens in crustaceans and mollusks, which make them important food allergens in exposed populations. Tropomyosins are responsible for a widespread immunoglobulin E cross-reactivity among allergens from different sources. Allergic tropomyosins are expressed in many species, including parasites and insects. Methods: This panallergen class is divided, according to it capacity of induced allergic symp…