Allergy
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Patients with allergic rhinitis may be abnormally sensitive to stimulation of the ion channel transient receptor potential vanilloid-1 (TRPV1). ⋯ Patients with allergic rhinitis feature an increased itch response to TRPV1 stimulation at seasonal allergen exposure. We suggest that this reflects part of the hyperresponsiveness that characterizes on-going allergic rhinitis. Intervention with the TRPV1-signalling pathway may offer potential treatments of this condition.
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Poor asthma control is associated to high morbidity. The objective of this study was to assess the association between adherence rates to beclomethasone dipropionate (BDP) and the degree of asthma control. ⋯ In all periods, there were statistically significant differences in adherence rates for maintaining or not maintaining the asthma control. Optimal asthma control entailed adherence rate higher than 80%. Strategies for reducing asthma morbidity should include a regular monitoring of adherence to inhaled steroids.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Functional endoscopic sinus surgery improved asthma symptoms as well as PEFR and olfaction in patients with nasal polyposis.
Nasal polyposis is a disease known to be associated with asthma. The management is anti-inflammatory, with topical and oral corticosteroids as the first-line treatment. The effect of surgical treatment on lower airway inflammation has not been sufficiently studied. ⋯ Functional endoscopic sinus surgery improved nasal and asthma symptoms in patients with nasal polyposis. Functional endoscopic sinus surgery could be considered early in the natural course of nasal polyposis with concomitant asthma, as well as a second-line treatment in nasal polyposis patients with a reduced sense of smell. The potential benefits of FPND 400 microg b.i.d. were probably overshadowed by FESS.
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Single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)-based genome-wide association study revealed that markers on chromosome 17q21 were linked to childhood asthma but not atopy in Caucasians, with the strongest signal being detected for the SNP rs7216389 in the ORMDL3 gene. Such association was unknown in Chinese. This study delineated the allele and genotype frequencies of 10 SNPs at chromosome 17q21, and investigated the relationship between these SNPs and asthma and plasma IgE in southern Chinese children. ⋯ Childhood asthma and atopy are associated with chromosome 17q21 in Chinese, but such association may involve genes other than ORMDL3 in this region.