BACKGROUND The allergenicity of Ricinus communis L. (castor bean, Euphorbiaceae) is associated with components of its seeds and pollen. Castor bean allergy has been described not only in laboratory workers, but also in personnel working in oil processing mills, fertilizer retail, the upholstery industry and other industrial fields. In the present study, we describe the critical amino acids in t...

Microbial exposures in early childhood direct the development of immune system and their diversity may influence risk allergy development. We aimed to determine whether indoor microbial at early-life is associated with allergic rhinitis inhalant atopy. The study population included children within two birth cohorts: Finnish rural-suburban LUKAS (N = 312), German urban LISA from Munich Leipzig c...

In addition to their detrimental role in allergic diseases, mast cells (MCs) are well known to be important cells of the innate immune system. In the last decade, they have been shown to contribute significantly to optimal host defense against numerous pathogens including parasites, bacteria, and viruses. The contribution of MCs to the immune responses in fungal infections, however, is largely ...

Sensitivity to a variety of fungi is known to be a factor in allergic rhinitis and asthma. In this review methods for measuring exposure to fungi in the indoor environment are evaluated. A variety of markers for the presence of fungi are also described in addition to their known relationship to either toxic or adverse immunologic effects. Key studies documenting the clinical effects of differen...

trichophyton rubrum is an anthropophilic fungus causing up to 90% of chronic cases of dermatophytosis. several properties of this fungus have been investigated so far. however, a few studies were carried out in the field of molecular biology of this fungus. in the present study, we tried to identify the subunit g of its vacuolar atpase (v-atpase). pairs of 21 nt primers were designed from highl...

Allergic diseases are amongst the most common chronic disorders worldwide. Today, more than 300 million of the population is known to suffer from one or other allergic ailments affecting the socio-economic quality of life. Major causative agents implicated are pollen grains, fungal spores, dust mites, insect debris, animal epithelia, etc. Several aerobiological studies have been conducted in di...

BACKGROUND There is no uniform consensus on how to grow fungi from sinus aspirates in the Canadian setting. Protocols vary between institutions, and the positivity rate for fungal cultures ranges between 10 and 20% even when endoscopically obvious allergic mucin is being sent to the laboratory. The aim of this study was to compare the occurrence of positive fungal cultures obtained by our insti...

The development of asthma appears to involve interplay between host factors and environmental exposures. The most important environmental factors are viral respiratory infections and airborne allergens in consist of sensitization to fungal aeroallergens [1]. Exposure to fungal aeroallergens was reported to be a cause of asthma in many parts of the world. There are few data on the prevalence of ...

A panel of cDNAs encoding allergenic proteins was isolated from an Aspergillus fumigatus cDNA library displayed on the surface of filamentous phage. Solid phase-immobilized serum immunoglobulin E (IgE) from A. fumigatus-allergic individuals was used to enrich phage displaying IgE-binding molecules. One of the cDNAs encoded a 11.1-kD protein that was identified as acidic ribosomal phosphoprotein...

Occupational and environmental health professionals are confronted with issues concerning the health effects of indoor fungal bioaerosol exposure. This article reviews current data on the health effects of indoor mold exposure and provides practical suggestions for occupational and environmental health practitioners regarding how best to manage these exposures based on published human studies. ...