BACKGROUND To evaluate the sensitivity, specificity and predictive values of fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FENO) for the diagnosis of asthma in general practice. METHODS Prospective diagnostic study with 160 patients attending 10 general practices for the first time with complaints suspicious of obstructive airway disease (OAD). Patients were referred to a lung function laboratory for diag...

Potential triggers for equine asthma are allergens from hay and straw dusts, mold spores storage mites. The contribution of these environmental trigger factors to is still largely uncertain. aim this study was compare results four allergy tests healthy asthma-affected horses, evaluate the clinical relevance tested positive via specific inhalation provocation test. Fifteen horses were classified...

Methods Twenty-nine patients with seasonal SAR (positive SPT to grass and/or olive pollen) with well-defined symptoms during pollen season in addition to nasal symptoms throughout the year were included. Clinical questionnaires, skin tests, serum specific IgE, nasal levels of tryptase and eosinophil cationic protein, and nasal allergen provocation test (NAPT) with grass, olive, D. pteronyssinus...

Methods A prospective 10-year-follow-up study has been designed to evaluate 194 LAR patients and 97 healthy controls. All LAR patients had positive response to nasal allergen provocation test (NAPT) with at least one aeroallergen. Demographic and clinical questionnaire, spirometry, skin prick testing, and serum specific IgE antibodies to common aeroallergens were evaluated yearly, and NAPT were...

There is evidence that bronchial responsiveness to allergen is quantitatively correlated with bronchial responsiveness to nonspecific stimuli in subjects with allergic asthma. This association has been questioned in occupational asthma due to low molecular weight substances. It was the aim of this study to assess the quantitative association of bronchial responsiveness to methacholine (MCh) and...

UNLABELLED BACKGROUND IL-31, a recently discovered member of the gp130/IL-6 cytokine family, is mainly expressed by human mast cells and T helper type 2 cells. IL-31 is a key trigger of atopic dermatitis. Recent studies also suggest a role of IL-31 in the pathogenesis of other allergic diseases including allergic rhinitis. In the present study we studied the release of IL-31 and IL-13 in all...

Allergen molecules (synonyms: single allergens, allergen components) open up new horizons for the targeted allergen-specific diagnostics of immunoglobulin E (IgE) in singleplex determination. The following rationales support the targeted use of allergen molecules and, more importantly, improve test properties: (1) increased test sensitivity ("analytical sensitivity"), particularly when importan...

Methods A 15-year-old female presented with generalised urticaria, dyspnea, severe cough, headache, dizziness, and vomiting after singing and dancing for 1 hour and after ingesting grilled pork. Serum specific IgE and skin prick tests were performed. Oral food challenge with boiled pork meat were done. We started boiled pork meat 10g to 160g every 30 mimutes. Exercise provocation test before an...

BACKGROUND Pollen extracts and chemically modified allergoids are used successfully in allergen immunotherapy (AIT). Recombinant extracts offer potential advantages with respect to pharmaceutical quality, standardization and dosing. A hypoallergenic recombinant folding variant of the major birch pollen allergen (rBet v 1-FV) was compared with an established native birch preparation. A pre-seaso...