International archives of allergy and immunology
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Int. Arch. Allergy Immunol. · Aug 1998
Prevalence of Helicobacter pylori-associated gastritis in chronic urticaria.
Chronic urticaria and concurrent angioedema are frustrating problems for both physicians and patients. ⋯ Thus, measurement of H. pylori-specific antibodies and/or gastroscopy should be included in the diagnostic management of chronic urticaria to identify patients who may profit from eradication treatment with disappearance of long-standing and annoying urticaria symptomatology.
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Int. Arch. Allergy Immunol. · May 1998
Case Reports Comparative StudyPredominant implication of IL-5 in acute eosinophilic pneumonia: comparison with chronic eosinophilic pneumonia.
Acute eosinophilic pneumonia (AEP) is a rare disease with unknown etiology. To examine pathophysiology of AEP we measured the cell number of eosinophils and eosinophil active cytokines in the peripheral blood and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) of AEP patients and compared the levels with those measured in chronic eosinophilic pneumonia (CEP) patients. ⋯ AEP is a disease in which eosinophil active cytokine IL-5 is predominantly involved; CEP is not. The factors involving eosinophil infiltration to inflammatory loci differ between AEP and CEP.
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Int. Arch. Allergy Immunol. · Jan 1997
Dermatophagoides-farinae-induced pulmonary eosinophilic inflammation in mice.
Dermatophagoides farinae (Der f) is one of the most common species of dust mites that induce asthma and allergic rhinitis. We have reported that Der f challenge on sensitized mice elicited a distinct type of hypersensitivity, called early-type hypersensitivity (ETH), in subcutaneous tissues and in airways. The airway ETH was accompanied by a series of inflammatory and immunological events including cytokine production, adhesion molecule expression, inflammatory cell infiltration, eosinophilia, and airway hyperreactivity. ⋯ The concomitant accumulation of neutrophils and mononuclear cells, however, was not affected by this treatment. On the other hand, intranasal administration of mAb to murine TNF-alpha (MP6-XT3, 20 micrograms/ mouse), but not IL-5, 1 h before challenge and 24 h AC significantly reduced the numbers of eosinophils, neutrophils, and lymphocytes in the BAL fluids. The intraperitoneal injection of dexamethasone (50 mg/kg) for a total of four times resulted in total inhibition of the Der-f-induced cellular responses, whereas vasoactive amine antagonists (diphenhydramine, ketanserin and cyprohepatidine) did not show any effect.
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Int. Arch. Allergy Immunol. · Dec 1996
Multicenter StudyIgE levels, atopy markers and hay fever in relation to age, sex and smoking status in a normal adult Swiss population. SAPALDIA (Swiss Study on Air Pollution and Lung Diseases in Adults) Team.
Within the framework of the SAPALDIA survey (Swiss study on Air Pollution and Lung Diseases in Adults), we studied the influence of sex, age and smoking habits on total serum IgE and allergen-specific IgE antibody concentrations (assessed by means of the Phadiatop test) and on the prevalence of hay fever. A total of 8,344 subjects aged 18-60 years, comprising 2,776 current smokers, 1,888 former smokers and 3,680 nonsmokers, were included in the study. Smokers had both a statistically significant (p<0.001) higher mean serum IgE concentration (geometric mean 39.7 kU/l), and a higher percentage (27.5%) of persons with elevated serum IgE (> 100 kU/l) than nonsmokers (27.2 kU/l; respectively 20.5%). ⋯ The decrease in former smokers might be slightly faster than in the other two categories. In conclusion, the present results demonstrated that tobacco smoking is associated with increased IgE levels and negatively related to atopy and hay fever. In addition, it is shown that atopy prevalence decreases with age.
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Int. Arch. Allergy Immunol. · Oct 1996
Complement activation by C-reactive protein on the HEp-2 cell substrate.
The complement (C) activation by C-reactive protein (CRP) in acute-phase sera is routinely tested in our laboratory by means of an indirect immunofluorescence method (C3-IFT) on rat kidney sections. This C3-IFT assay is based on the binding of CRP to the renal tissue followed by the fixation of C4 and C3 components to distinct vessel-associated medullary structures as a result of CRP-mediated C activation in vitro. While the activation cascade leading to the deposition of C4 and C3 could previously be deduced experimentally, we were unable as yet to visualize CRP and the components of the C1 complex on kidney sections when testing patients' sera by indirect immunofluorescence. ⋯ HEp-2 cells can thus be used to monitor the process of autologous C activation initiated by endogeneous CRP in patients' sera. In contrast to native CRP, urea-modified CRP (mCRP) did not bind to HEp-2 cell nuclei, but was detected in association with distinct filamentous cytoplasmic structures. Unlike its native counterpart, binding of mCRP was not followed by a deposition of C components.