The immunologic mechanisms of sublingual immunotherapy are less established. In Cochrane analysis, the authors concluded that there was an increase in IgG4 but no stable effect on IgE levels in adults. In addition, the induction of allergen-specific IgA has been reported. There are conflicting data concerning lympho-proliferative responses. So far the evidence on changes in Th1/Th2/Treg activity induced by sublingual immunotherapy need to be confirmed. The effects on T-cell reactivity and cytokine secretion show strong variation in a number of studies. (more…)
Allergen-specific immunotherapy aims to correct the underlying immune imbalance associated with specific immunotherapy allergic rhi ...
The precise mechanisms underlying the effects of Specific Immunotherapy are not well understood but several studies have shown ...
The increasing prevalence of allergic disease in the Western world has led to the concept of the ‘allergic march’ to describe t ...
Allergen-specific immunotherapy is highly effective in the treatment of IgE-mediated allergy diseases such as rhinitis, conjunc ...
Histamine is a low-molecular-weight monoamine that binds to four different G-protein-coupled receptors, and has recently been d ...
One especially favored target for immune recognition is bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS). This macromolecule is found only in the outer lipid bilayer that surrounds the cell walls of gram-negative bacteria, such as Neisseria, Salmonella, and Escherichia coli. Each molecule of bacterial lipopolysaccharide consists of a core carbohydrate linked on one side to a phospholipid (called lipid A) that is anchored in the bilayer and on the other side to a long polysaccharide chain (called the O sidechain) that extends outward from the bacterial surface (Figure 1 bellow). The sequence of sugars making up the O sidechain is species-specific and highly variable, even within a single bacterial genus: For example, more than 1000 variants in Salmonella are known. (more…)
Toll-like receptors (TLRs) act as receptors for numerous stimuli of immune cells, including bacterial cell wall constituents (l ...
Bacteria cause allergic disease because of toxicity, invasiveness, immunopathology, or lends of these three mechanisms. Thus much ...
Exotoxins are noxious proteins secreted by many bacteria. These toxins are often heat-labile and thus can be heat-inactivated f ...
A few of the best known humoral effectors of innate immunity are listed in Table 1 bellow, along with the types of target molec ...
Breast milk contains a variety of bioactive substances, among them soluble CD14 (sCD14), which plays an important role in innat ...
The overlapping functions of cytokines largely reflect the properties of the cell surface receptors to which they bind. All cytokine receptors function as multiprotein complexes made up of two or more integral membrane polypeptides, called subunits (Figure 1 bellow). A typical subunit polypeptide has an extracellular domain that participates in cytokine binding, a transmembrane region, and an intracellular domain (also called a cytoplasmic tail gp41) involved in signal transduction the molecular events that transmit signals to the cell interior and induce specific cellular responses when the receptor binds its appropriate cytokine ligand. Some receptors (eg, EPO-R) function as homodimers of a single type of subunit; others (eg, GM-CSFR) function as heterodimers, and still others (eg, IL-2R) as heterotrimers. (more…)
Perhaps the most exciting recent advance in the cytokine signaling field has been the elucidation of the Jak/Stat pathway. The ...
The Ras-dependent pathway can be triggered by a variety of cytokine receptors, as well as by certain adhesion molecules and by ...
Adenosine is a nucleoside and consists of adenine in glycosidic linkage with ribose. Most adenosine is derived from cleavage of ade ...
One especially favored target for immune recognition is bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS). This macromolecule is found only in ...
Although it is commonly imagined that hematopoiesis takes place in a liquid environment resembling the blood, with progenitors resp ...
Once it is tethered onto the venule wall, the neutrophil or other leukocyte comes into contact with a wide variety of inflammatory mediators that may either be expressed by the activated endothelium or simply diffuse into the blood from the injured tissue. Among these mediators are a diverse subset of intermediaries known as leukocyte chemotactic factors which bind to receptors on the leukocyte surface and trigger the second, activation phase of margination. (more…)
Neutrophils make up an army of more-or-less identical circulating phagocytes that are poised to respond quickly and in vast numbers ...
Nearly all tissues, organs, and serosal cavities harbor a population of resident phagocytes. Most contain only a diffuse scattering ...
Acute inflammatory response constitute the first line of defense against infection pathogenesis and how immune system works as ...
Some of the immediate sequelae of injury are uncomfortably familiar: Soon after an injury occurs, the affected site and its sur ...
Although it is commonly imagined that hematopoiesis takes place in a liquid environment resembling the blood, with progenitors resp ...
The Ras-dependent pathway can be triggered by a variety of cytokine receptors, as well as by certain adhesion molecules and by many other surface receptors when they contact appropriate ligands. Signaling in this pathway can be initiated by cytosolic proteins called Src-family kinases, so named because they bear regions of sequence homology to the oncoprotein Src. These Src-like kinases contain specialized protein domains, termed SH2 domains (for Src-homology region 2), that enable them to bind other proteins containing phosphorylated tyrosine residues. When a cytokine receptor binds ligand, subunits of the receptor become phosphorylated and can immediately be bound by a Src-family kinase. (more…)
Perhaps the most exciting recent advance in the cytokine signaling field has been the elucidation of the Jak/Stat pathway. The ...
The overlapping functions of cytokines largely reflect the properties of the cell surface receptors to which they bind. All cyt ...
Although it is commonly imagined that hematopoiesis takes place in a liquid environment resembling the blood, with progenitors resp ...
The process by which blood cells grow, divide, and differentiate in the bone marrow is called hematopoiesis. Three general cl ...
Our understanding of hematopoiesis has advanced greatly in recent years with the isolation and characterization of hematopoietic st ...
Normally present at very low levels in plasma, antibodies of the immunoglobulin E (IgE) isotype were first discovered in 1967, decades after the description of IgA, IgG, and IM. IgE antibodies are produced primarily by plasma cells in mucosal-associated lymphoid tissue and their levels are uniformly elevated in patients suffering from atopic conditions like allergic rhinitis, asthma and atopic dermatitis. Production of allergen-specific IgE in atopic individuals is driven both by a genetic predisposition to the synthesis of this isotype as well as by environmental factors, including chronic allergen exposure. (more…)
The precise mechanisms underlying the effects of Specific Immunotherapy are not well understood but several studies have shown ...
Our current knowledge for trigger factor and food allergy intolerance is still in it infancy level. We already known that the aller ...
Treatment with omalizumab has been shown to reduce serum free IgE concentrations and to have beneficial effects on allergic airway ...
A paradigm of immune development underlies allergy development and progression in early childhood. Briefly, the immune system o ...
IgE plays an important role in allergic asthma. Reducing IgE in the airway mucosa should reduce airway inflammation. Omalizumab has ...
This study was similar to the study of Harrison and colleagues, which looked at doubling the dose of inhaled corticosteroid during an asthma exacerbation. This study investigated whether doubling the dose of budesonide inhalation in patients on regular inhaled budesonide would be beneficial during an asthma exacerbation. (more…)
The management of asthma in the community involves patient education to avoid the triggers, doubling the dose of inhaled steroi ...
The guidelines for asthma management recommend the use of regular inhaled corticosteroid in patients with mild persistent asthma, b ...
Asthma control is improved by combining inhaled corticosteroids with long acting beta-agonists but patients still require relie ...
This study evaluated budesonide formoterol efficacy and safety of a novel asthma management strategy for both maintenance and s ...
The role of oral and inhaled corticosteroids in the management of acute asthma is well known. This study compared the effects of in ...
Adjusting the inhaled glucocorticoid dose based on indices of airway inflammation has been proposed as a means of achieving more effective control of asthma than the conventional approach of adjusting steroid dose based on symptoms, lung function and rescue medication use. In a single-blind, placebo-controlled trial, 97 asthmatic patients received fluticasone doses adjusted on the basis either of conventional guidelines or of exhaled nitric oxide fraction (FE NO ). (more…)
For most patients, asthma is not controlled as defined by guidelines; whether this is achievable has not been prospectively stu ...
The new corticosteroid ciclesonide has been evaluated in various studies to assess its efficacy and adverse effect profile in a ...
Despite optimum drug delivery and good compliance with inhaled corticosteroids, many patients experience symptoms and exacerbat ...
The management of asthma in the community involves patient education to avoid the triggers, doubling the dose of inhaled steroi ...
Treating allergic rhinitis may have a downstream effect on concomitant asthma and this may be due to attenuation of the underlying ...
The prevalence of atopic dermatitis is increasing in Western societies. The hygiene hypothesis proposes that this is due to reduced exposure to environmental allergens and infections during early life. The authors examined factors associated with a diagnosis of atopic dermatitis at 3.5 years of age, especially those factors implicated by the hygiene hypothesis. The Auckland Birthweight Collaborative study is a case–control study of risk factors for small-for-gestational-age babies. Cases were born at term with birth weight at or below the 10th centile; controls were appropriate for gestational age, with birth weight above the 10th centile. (more…)
Atopic Dermatitis is considered to be one of the first manifestations in the atopic march. The aim of this study was to investi ...
Breast milk contains a variety of bioactive substances, among them soluble CD14 (sCD14), which plays an important role in innat ...
Atopic Dermatitis is a chronic relapsing skin disease. Several investigations concerning the long-term prognosis of Atopic Derm ...
Avoidance of any one of the individual risk factors associated with childhood asthma has not been successful in preventing its deve ...
Atopic dermatitis is a chronic inflammatory condition of the skin which usually starts in infancy. It is sometimes called ‘atop ...
The management of asthma in the community involves patient education to avoid the triggers, doubling the dose of inhaled steroids and increasing the use of rescue medications during an exacerbation in order to prevent unnecessary hospital visits. This randomized, controlled study looks at whether doubling the dose of inhaled corticosteroid in isolation is effective when asthma deteriorates. (more…)
This study was similar to the study of Harrison and colleagues, which looked at doubling the dose of inhaled corticosteroid dur ...
The guidelines for asthma management recommend the use of regular inhaled corticosteroid in patients with mild persistent asthma, b ...
The role of oral and inhaled corticosteroids in the management of acute asthma is well known. This study compared the effects of in ...
For most patients, asthma is not controlled as defined by guidelines; whether this is achievable has not been prospectively stu ...
Patients with severe persistent asthma who are inadequately controlled despite Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) 2002 step 4 ther ...