Sensitization to pets is a major risk factor for asthma. There are many reports on the relationship between household pets, sensitization to the pet, and sensitization to other allergens, often with conflicting results. Pet ownership is not random, and household pets are associated with exposures other than pet allergens. We will review some of the evidence regarding the effects of household pe...

Individuals with greater nicotine-reactivity may be more likely to initiate and maintain cigarette-smoking behavior than individuals with less nicotine-reactivity. In rats, behavioral sensitization reflects a progressive increase in the psychomotor response to drugs of abuse thought to result from neuroplasticity in brain regions that mediate their motivational effects. Studying nicotine behavi...

Behavioral sensitization in mammals, including humans, is sensitive to factors such as administration route, testing environment, and pharmacokinetic confounds, unrelated to the drugs themselves that are difficult to eliminate. Simpler animals less susceptible to these confounding influences may be advantageous substitutes for studying sensitization. We tested this hypothesis by determining whe...

BACKGROUND House dust mites (HDM) are one of the major risk factors for the development of bronchial asthma. The percentage of sensitization to HDM was reported to be 71.9% in Taipei City. In southwestern Taiwan, the percentage of sensitization to HDM has not been estimated. We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of asthmatic patients treated at the Chiayi branch of Chang Gung Memorial...

OBJECTIVES Psychobiological sensitization and health worry appear to be involved in the etiology of clinical manifestations of subjective health complaints (SHCs) via amplified processing of health-related information. However, it is not clear whether sensitization and health worry are also associated with common SHCs, which are extremely prevalent and are responsible for a large part of both h...

Benzodiazepines seem to be frequently abused in conjunction with opioids. Fluoxetine was reported to block morphine locomotor sensitization in rats. Sensitization has been implicated in some aspects of drug abuse. We have investigated the effect of alprazolam (0.25 mg/kg) and fluoxetine (5 mg/kg) on the development and expression of sensitization to the locomotor stimulant effect of morphine (1...

Bee venom (Apis mellifera L., BV) has been used as a cosmetic ingredient for antiaging, anti-inflammatory and antibacterial functions. The aim of this study was to access the skin sensitization of BV, a Buehler test was conducted fifty healthy male Hartley guinea pigs with three groups; Group G1 (BVsensitization group, 20 animals), group G2 (the positive control-sensitization group, 20 animals)...

BACKGROUND Component-resolved diagnostics is gaining importance in allergy diagnostics. Allergen extracts contain components with different rates of prevalence and clinical relevance, which can be subdivided at molecular level into major and minor allergens. Clinical complaints are usually triggered by major allergens, while the role of sensitization to the panallergens profilin and polcalcin s...

BACKGROUND Many studies have reported the prevalence of sensitization using skin prick tests. However, comparisons between studies and between regions are difficult because the number and the type of allergens tested vary widely. Using the European Community Health Respiratory Survey I data, the geographical variation of sensitization to environmental allergen as measured by skin tests was esta...

BACKGROUND Sensitization to flour or fungal alpha-amylase is a prerequisite for the development of respiratory allergy in bakers. The knowledge of occupational allergen sensitization among bakery workers will facilitate the implementation of preventive measures for respiratory allergies in bakeries. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence and factors associated with sensitiz...