A role for Leukotriene B4 in the induction of airway hyper-responsiveness was explored through the use of transgenic mice deficient in the BLT1 receptor for LTB4 . Ovalbumin challenge of sensitized wild-type mice resulted in the usual features of experimental asthma, including goblet cell hyperplasia, hyper-responsiveness to inhaled methacholine and elevated BAL fluid concentrations of the Th2 cytokine IL-13. In contrast, BLT1 –/– mice (i.e. genetically modified mice lacking the gene coding for the BLT1 receptor) exhibited significantly lower responses. BLT1 –/– mice also exhibited lower numbers of IL-13-positive T lymphocytes of both the helper (CD4 T Cells) and cytotoxic/suppressor (CD8 + ) types. (more…)
Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF), originally described as a vascular permeability factor generating tissue oedema, has be ...
Airway hyper-responsiveness in asthma may involve smooth muscle growth, a manifestation of airway remodelling. The involvement ...
IgE plays an important role in allergic asthma. Reducing IgE in the airway mucosa should reduce airway inflammation. Omalizumab has ...
Some features seem to be common to severe asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease with reversibility of airflow limita ...
Antihistamines have been shown to be effective in seasonal allergic rhinitis and chronic idiopathic urticaria. They improve qua ...
The body’s innate resistance to many pathogens is provided by enzymes and other proteins in the blood and tissue fluids. These proteins are the effectors (ie, the active agents) of humoral innate immunity, and they have features in common with one another that are also characteristics of the innate immune system as a whole. First, these proteins are continually expressed throughout life, regardless of whether or not their protective effects are needed at a given moment. Second, although many of these proteins can be produced in higher quantities in times of need, their intrinsic properties (eg, substrate specificity and ige binding affinity) never change: The characteristics of these proteins have been shaped by evolution, are genetically determined, and are fixed at birth, so that they do not vary during an individual’s lifetime. (more…)
A few of the best known humoral effectors of innate immunity are listed in Table 1 bellow, along with the types of target molec ...
Contact of pathogens with the innate immune system will most frequently occur at epithelia, and the biology of the airway epitheliu ...
Innate immune responses are seen in a very broad range of tissues. Indeed, the Toll-like receptors (TLRs, one of the most important ...
An especially elaborate and important type of innate antimicrobial enzymes defense is provided by a group of serum proteins tha ...
Other humoral effectors and humoral factors have the ability to lyse microorganisms directly. The best studied of these are a c ...
Allergic rhinitis is a very common problem associated with poor quality of life, reductions in social and work activities and poor interpersonal relationships. The main goal of the management of allergic rhinitis is to improve the quality of life. Immunotherapy is a specific therapy for allergic rhinitis and several reports have documented the safety and efficacy of this treatment . Safety has been a key issue in immunotherapy and various modalities are being investigated to make allergy immunotherapy more tolerable and safe to administer. (more…)
The safety of immunotherapy has been a constraint on this form of treatment for allergic disease. Although retrospective survey ...
Specific immunotherapy has been widely used to treat allergic rhinitis symptoms. As with any other form of specific immunotherapy, ...
Allergen-specific immunotherapy aims to correct the underlying immune imbalance associated with specific immunotherapy allergic rhi ...
It is now almost a century since the pioneering work of Noon and Freeman was used to successfully treat hay fever symptoms usin ...
Allergen immunotherapy has proven to be effective in the management of allergic disease and is the only treatment that is able ...
Diagnosis of food hypersensitivity is a clinical challenge and the only current definitive test is the Double Blind Placebo-Controlled Food Challenges. Although the Double Blind Placebo-Controlled Food Challenges is the current gold standard, it is difficult to perform and is very time-consuming. Hence, researchers are continually evaluating new tests and assessing the value of the available serum tests. (more…)
The food eating challenges materials used at different centers vary considerably. Some centers use freeze-dried foods, some use con ...
Over the last 5 years some studies have suggested that the atopy patch test (APT) may be a useful test in atopic dermatitis childre ...
The diagnostic approach to allergic food reactions comprises three steps. The first step includes the medical allergy history, ...
This population-based cross-sectional study, funded by a UK government agency, aimed to establish the rate of sensitization to food ...
If you suspect that certain foods trigger wheezing or asthma symptoms in your child, your first action should be a consultation ...
Over the last 5 years some studies have suggested that the atopy patch test (APT) may be a useful test in atopic dermatitis children who have suspected food hypersensitivity and may even obviate the need for oral challenges. An alternative test to oral allergy challenges with high sensitivity and specificity would be helpful in the diagnosis of food hypersensitivity. (more…)
One of the popular allergy testing besides food allergy testing is skin allergy testing. Allergy patch test is the most commo ...
Diagnosis of food hypersensitivity is a clinical challenge and the only current definitive test is the Double Blind Placebo-Control ...
This population-based cross-sectional study, funded by a UK government agency, aimed to establish the rate of sensitization to food ...
The diagnostic approach to allergic food reactions comprises three steps. The first step includes the medical allergy history, ...
The food eating challenges materials used at different centers vary considerably. Some centers use freeze-dried foods, some use con ...
The potency of an allergen vaccine is the total allergen activity (that is, the sum of the contribution to allergenic activity from any individual IgE molecule specific for any t-cell epitopes on any molecule in the allergen vaccine). It follows that potency measures always will depend on the serum pool or patient panel selected as well as the methodology used. Methods used for the assessment of allergen vaccine potency may be divided into in vitro or in vivo techniques. (more…)
The quality of an allergen vaccine is a measure of the complexity of the composition, including the concentration of the variou ...
A subcommittee under the International Union of Immunological Societies (IUIS) for the establishment of international standards (IS ...
Allergen vaccines are complex mixtures of antigenic components produced by the extraction of naturally occurring source materia ...
Having determined an adequate potency and complexity in composition, an allergen vaccine may still be deficient in the content of m ...
Being an immunological disease, the characteristics of allergy are those of specificity and memory. Regardless of whether the c ...
This study compared the diagnostic value of intradermal tests and patch tests in 20 patients with non-immediate reactions to penicillin (none had IgE antibodies to benzylpenicillin or amoxicillin detectable using a commercial RAST [radioallergosorbent test] method), using 30 patients tolerant to penicillin as controls. Intradermal tests assessed reactivity to injection of major and minor determinants of benzylpenicillin, amoxicillin and ampicillin. Allergy patch testing involved the same hapten solutions used for intradermal testing, either embedded in a patch disk or mixed with petrolatum. (more…)
Suspected drug allergy is not easy to investigate. In the UK, few centers have the necessary facilities and expertise, the evid ...
Patients (and many doctors) frequently use the term ‘allergy’ when referring to any adverse drug reaction, even one that has no fea ...
One of the popular allergy testing besides food allergy testing is skin allergy testing. Allergy patch test is the most commo ...
Allergy skin testing is probably the most susceptible and practical way to monitor for existing allergy sensitivity. Biological ...
Over the last 5 years some studies have suggested that the atopy patch test (APT) may be a useful test in atopic dermatitis childre ...
A subcommittee under the International Union of Immunological Societies (IUIS) for the establishment of international standards (IS) agreed on guidelines in 1980-8 1. It was assumed that the collaboration and joint authority of the World Health Organization would be essential to achieve acceptance at an international level. In the following years the subcommittee selected, characterized, and produced international standards from several allergenic sources including Ambrusim artemisiifolia (short ragweed), Phleum pratense (timothy grass), the domestic mite Dermatuphagoides pterurzyssinus,Betula vernrcusa (birch), and Canis familiaris (dog). Additional standards were planned for the mold Alternaria alternuta, for the grasses Cynodon ducglun (Bermuda grass) and Lolium perenne (rye grass), Felis dumesticirs (cat), and the domestic mite Dermatuphaguides furinae, but this initiative unfortunately seems to have stopped prematurely. (more…)
Allergen vaccines are complex mixtures of antigenic components produced by the extraction of naturally occurring source materia ...
The potency of an allergen vaccine is the total allergen activity (that is, the sum of the contribution to allergenic activity from ...
Having determined an adequate potency and complexity in composition, an allergen vaccine may still be deficient in the content of m ...
The quality of an allergen vaccine is a measure of the complexity of the composition, including the concentration of the variou ...
Being an immunological disease, the characteristics of allergy are those of specificity and memory. Regardless of whether the c ...
Being an immunological disease, the characteristics of allergy are those of specificity and memory. Regardless of whether the clinical manifestation is rhinoconjunctivitis, rhinitis, or asthma, the underlying immunological response disorder is based on the adverse reactions of cells in the immune system upon contact with allergens. These cells are specific for epitopes that are structural parts of allergens present in the allergenic source material. Two types of cells (i.e., T cells and B-cells) produce receptor molecules (i.e., T-cell receptors and immunoglobulin [IgE] antibodies) that, through high-affinity interactions with the allergen, efficiently catalyze the presence of even minute amounts of allergens into clinical symptoms, the extreme consequence of which may be life-threatening to the patient. (more…)
Allergen vaccines are complex mixtures of antigenic components produced by the extraction of naturally occurring source materia ...
The production of allergen vaccines imposes a number of constraints on both the selection of source materials and the physicoch ...
The quality of an allergen vaccine is a measure of the complexity of the composition, including the concentration of the variou ...
The potency of an allergen vaccine is the total allergen activity (that is, the sum of the contribution to allergenic activity from ...
Having determined an adequate potency and complexity in composition, an allergen vaccine may still be deficient in the content of m ...
The production of allergen vaccines imposes a number of constraints on both the selection of source materials and the physicochemical conditions used during the extraction procedure. The process must neither denature the proteins (allergens) nor alter their composition significantly, including the quantitative ratio between the individual components. (more…)
Allergen vaccines are complex mixtures of antigenic components produced by the extraction of naturally occurring source materia ...
Being an immunological disease, the characteristics of allergy are those of specificity and memory. Regardless of whether the c ...
The potency of an allergen vaccine is the total allergen activity (that is, the sum of the contribution to allergenic activity from ...
The quality of an allergen vaccine is a measure of the complexity of the composition, including the concentration of the variou ...
Having determined an adequate potency and complexity in composition, an allergen vaccine may still be deficient in the content of m ...