PURPOSE The oil spill from the Heibei Spirit in December 2007 contaminated the Yellow Coast of South Korea. We evaluated the respiratory effects of that spill on children who lived along the Yellow Coast. METHODS Of 662 children living in the area exposed to the oil spill, 436 (65.9%) were enrolled as subjects. All subjects completed a modified International Study of Asthma and Allergies in C...

Inhalation of allergens produced by the American cockroach (Periplaneta americana) induces IgE Ab production and the development of asthma in genetically predisposed individuals. The cloning and expression in Escherichia coli of P. americana tropomyosin allergen have been achieved. The protein shares high homology with other arthropod tropomyosins (80% identity) but less homology with vertebrat...

Aerosolized medications are frequently used in the pulmonary function laboratory. The 2 most common implementations are bronchodilators and bronchial challenge agents. Bronchodilator administration is not well standardized, largely because of the various methods of delivery available for clinical practice. Metered-dose inhalers used with spacer devices are the most common route for bronchodilat...

The interactions between genetic and environmental factors play a major role in the development of childhood asthma. We hypothesized that a pre-existing Th2/asthmatic response can promote Th2 responses to newly encountered Ags (i.e., phenotype spread). To test this hypothesis, we developed a mouse model in which the requirements for the induction and inhibition of phenotype spread to a clinical...

BACKGROUND Avoidance of allergen exposure is an effective measure for preventing naÏve and allergic individuals from sensitization (primary intervention) and disease aggravation (secondary intervention), respectively. Regular monitoring of the allergens in the environment is required for the effective intervention. Thus, there is a need for cost-effective test kits for environmental allergen qu...

Background: The relationship between fi broblasts, myofi broblasts, and smooth muscle cells within the airway wall remains poorly understood. Objective: The cellular characteristics of primary bronchial fi broblasts from patients with asthma were investigated by evaluating the expression of 3 proteins: α–smooth muscle actin (SMA), fi bronectin containing extra type III domain A (EDAcFN), and sm...

BACKGROUND Breastfeeding is widely advocated to reduce risk of atopy and asthma, but the evidence for such an effect is conflicting. We aimed to assess long-term outcomes of asthma and atopy related to breastfeeding in a New Zealand birth cohort. METHODS Our cohort consisted of 1037 of 1139 children born in Dunedin, New Zealand, between April, 1972, and March, 1973, and residing in Otago prov...

STUDY OBJECTIVE One week of regular treatment with salmeterol can induce tolerance to the protective effect of a beta2-agonist on early airway response to allergen (EAR). The objective was to assess whether inhaled corticosteroids revert tolerance to salmeterol. STUDY DESIGN The study had a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled design. PATIENTS AND METHODS Twelve subjects with mild a...

According to the most recent definition, bronchial asthma is a chronic inflammatory disorder of the airways associated with reversible airway obstruction and increased airway responsiveness to a variety of stimuli. An intuitive inference from this definition is that a causal relationship may exist between airway inflammation and airway hyperresponsiveness. Along this line of reasoning, most of ...

The aim of this study was to investigate the possible adverse effects of Asian dust events on respiratory health in asthmatic children. Fifty-two children with mild asthma were studied for eight consecutive weeks in the spring of 2004 (March 8 to May 2). During the study period, five Asian dust days were identified; we included a lag period of two days following each of the events. Subjects rec...