Allergy
-
Icatibant, a bradykinin B2 receptor antagonist, is an established treatment for acute attacks of hereditary angioedema (HAE) with C1-inhibitor (C1-INH) deficiency. We describe our experience with icatibant in eight patients with angioedema because of acquired C1-INH deficiency (AAE). Forty-eight moderate-to-severe attacks were treated with subcutaneous icatibant 30 mg; two moderate attacks resolved without treatment. ⋯ One peripheral attack responded less quickly than other treated attacks. Five patients reported transient injection site reactions. Icatibant appeared to provide effective symptom relief and was generally well tolerated.
-
The incidence of asthma and obesity is increasing worldwide, and reports suggest that obese patients have more severe asthma. We investigated whether obese asthma patients have more severe airway obstruction and airway hyper-responsiveness and a different type of airway inflammation than lean asthmatics. Furthermore, we assessed the effect of obesity on corticosteroid treatment response. ⋯ We found no differences in asthma severity between obese and nonobese asthmatics. Interestingly, obese patients demonstrated more neutrophils in sputum and blood than nonobese patients. The smaller improvement in FEV(1) and sputum eosinophils suggests a worse corticosteroid treatment response in obese asthmatics.
-
Clinical Trial
Efficacy and safety of the interleukin-1 antagonist rilonacept in Schnitzler syndrome: an open-label study.
Schnitzler syndrome (SchS) is a rare disease with suspected autoinflammatory background that shares several clinical symptoms, including urticarial rash, fever episodes, arthralgia, and bone and muscle pain with cryopyrin-associated periodic syndromes (CAPS). Cryopyrin-associated periodic syndromes respond to treatment with interleukin-1 antagonists, and single case reports of Schnitzler syndrome have shown improvement following treatment with the interleukin-1 blocker anakinra. This study evaluated the effects of the interleukin-1 antagonist rilonacept on the clinical signs and symptoms of SchS. ⋯ Rilonacept was effective and well tolerated in patients with SchS and may represent a promising potential therapeutic option.
-
Carbohydrate-specific IgE antibodies present on nonprimate mammalian proteins were incriminated recently in delayed meat anaphylaxis. The aim of this study was to explore whether anaphylaxis to mammalian kidney is also associated with galactose-α-1,3-galactose (αGal)-specific IgE. ⋯ Pork or beef kidney anaphylaxis is related to αGal IgE. Its peculiar severity could be due to an elevated content of αGal epitopes in kidney.