BACKGROUND Allergic rhinitis is an inflammatory disease of the upper airway mucosa that also affects leukocytes in bone marrow and peripheral blood. Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) is a receptor for unmethylated CpG dinucleotides found in bacterial and viral DNA. The present study was designed to examine the expression of TLR9 in the nasal mucosa and in leukocytes derived from different cellular co...

PURPOSE Periostin was originally identified as a secreted factor during screening of a mouse osteoblastic library. In a recent study, periostin was found to directly regulate eosinophil accumulation in allergic mucosal inflammation. Chronic eosinophilic inflammation is related to the development of remodeling. The present study examined the expression of periostin and evaluated its role in the ...

BACKGROUND Providing evidence for the allergic aetiology of ocular symptoms developing as a result of occupational exposure is important for compensation procedures in many countries. AIM To perform cellular analysis of tear fluid before and after a specific challenge test with high-molecular weight allergens in symptomatic subjects. METHODS The subjects were 23 bakers with a history of con...

It has been demonstrated that Leukotriene modifiers reduce rhinitis symptoms, but montelukast preventive effect on inflammatory cells pattern in intranasal challenge studies has not been already assessed. This pilot study has been designed to explore the montelukast effects in preventing early/late inflammatory cells response to specific allergen challenge in persistent rhinitis. After a 4 week...

OBJECTIVE To assess the efficacy and safety of a pollen blocker crème for prophylaxis of symptoms in patients with seasonal or perennial allergic rhinitis. DESIGN Double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, crossover study conducted from November 2001 through September 2002 in 2 outpatient centers in Germany and 1 in Russia. Ninety-one patients aged 18 to 55 years with at least a 2-year his...

This review focuses on local allergic rhinitis, a new phenotype of allergic rhinitis, commonly misdiagnosed as nonallergic rhinitis. It has gained attention over last decade and can affect patients from all countries, ethnic groups and ages, impairing their quality of life, and is frequently associated with conjunctivitis and asthma. Diagnosis is based on clinical history, the demonstration of ...

Challenge of the nasal mucosa of allergic subjects with specific allergen induces not only the expected sneezing and rhinorrhea, but also the appearance in nasal secretions of mediators commonly associated with activation of mast cells or basophils: histamine, leukotrienes, prostaglandin D2 (PGD2), kinins, and TAME ([3H]-N-alpha-tosyl-L-arginine methyl ester)-esterase. To determine whether spec...