The Journal of allergy and clinical immunology
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J. Allergy Clin. Immunol. · Jul 2005
Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical TrialIL-9 and c-Kit+ mast cells in allergic rhinitis during seasonal allergen exposure: effect of immunotherapy.
Background IL-9 is an important stimulus for tissue infiltration by mast cells, a feature requiring concomitant activation of c-Kit. Objectives We assessed IL-9 expression and c-Kit + mast cells in the nasal mucosa of patients with allergic rhinitis during seasonal pollen exposure and observed the effects of allergen immunotherapy. Methods We studied 44 patients with seasonal rhinitis and asthma before and 2 years after a double-blind trial of grass pollen immunotherapy. ⋯ Conclusion IL-9 is upregulated in the nasal mucosa during the pollen season and correlates with tissue infiltration by eosinophils. Successful pollen immunotherapy is associated with inhibition of seasonal increases in both nasal c-Kit + mast cells and eosinophils. This effect might be explained, at least in part, by the reduced local expression of IL-9.
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J. Allergy Clin. Immunol. · Jul 2005
ReviewAdvances in allergic skin disease, anaphylaxis, and hypersensitivity reactions to foods, drugs, and insects.
This review highlights some of the research advances in allergic skin disease, anaphylaxis, and hypersensitivity reactions to foods, drugs, and insects that were reported primarily in the Journal in 2004. Clinical observations included that gastrointestinal symptoms during anaphylaxis are associated with an increased risk for hypotension; recurrence of peanut allergy can occur for about 8% of children who pass an oral food challenge and is associated with continued avoidance of the food after the challenge; seafood allergy is reported by 2.3% of the US population; and determination of the time to resolution of childhood egg and milk allergy might be predictable by means of serial determination of food-specific IgE levels. ⋯ Basic and translational research observations indicate that improved diagnosis and therapy might become possible on the basis of reported identification or characterization of allergens such as: lipid transfer proteins and birch pollen-related cross-reactive allergens in plant foods; proteins in scorpion venom that cross-react with proteins from imported fire ant; mosquito saliva proteins responsible for systemic anaphylaxis; and IgE binding to quinolones detectable with an in vitro immunoassay. In addition, advances in understanding immune regulation associated with abrogation of oral tolerance in food allergy and of dendritic cell function, modulation of regulatory T cells, and chemokine expression in AD have elucidated possible targets for future intervention.