Food allergy has an increasing prevalence in the general population and in Italy concerns 8 % of people with allergies. The spectrum of its clinical manifestations ranges from mild symptoms up to potentially fatal anaphylactic shock. A number of patients can be diagnosed easily by the use of first- and second-level procedures (history, skin tests and allergen specific IgE). Patients with comple...

The immune response is designed to protect the body from foreign substances that can cause disease, especially infectious agents. In certain individuals, however, the normal immune response to substances recognised by the body is exaggerated and an excessive response is triggered. This response can be directed to an externally encountered substance, such as pollen or a foodstuff, or to a substa...

The degree to which aeroallergens are contributing to the global increase in pediatric allergic disease is incompletely understood. We review the evidence that links climate change to changes in aeroallergens such as pollen and outdoor mold concentrations and, subsequently, aeroallergen association with pediatric allergic disease. We specifically explore the evidence on both the exacerbation an...

BACKGROUND Specific immunotherapy using recombinant allergens is clinically effective; still wild-type allergens can provoke treatment-induced side effects and often show poor immunogenicity in vivo. Thus, we tested the low IgE-binding, highly immunogenic fold variant BM4 in a Bet v 1 mouse model. METHODS Recombinant BM4 was used as active vaccine ingredient to treat mice sensitized to Bet v ...

Monosensitization differs both immunologically and clinically from polysensitization, and specific immunotherapy is more effective in patients sensitized only to a single pollen than in multiple-pollen sensitized patients. To further examine the differences between monosensitized and polysensitized allergies, allergic indices were examined in 68 monosensitized and 62 polysensitized patients wit...

The infection of CD4+ cells by HIV leads to the progressive destruction of CD4+ T lymphocytes and, after a severe reduction of CD4+ cells, to AIDS. The aim of the study was to investigate whether HIV-infected patients with CD4 cell counts <200 cells/µl can suffer from symptoms of IgE-mediated allergy, produce allergen-specific IgE antibody responses and show boosts of allergen-specific IgE prod...

The correlation of pollen allergens, Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus and animal dender was assessed during a two-year period. Results of skin prick test, total and specific IgE UniCAP tests were compared in atopic patients (AP) with the following diagnoses: atopic dermatitis, allergic rhinitis, allergic conjunctivitis, allergic bronchitis or asthma, allergic urticaria and angioedema. The study i...

INTRODUCTION •Allergic rhinitis (AR) is a chronic disease of the upper respiratory tract caused by exposure to allergens inducing inflammation of the nasal mucosa and of the conjunctiva mediated by antibody Immunoglobulin E (IgE). •According to local literature, prevalence of symptomatic AR is around 20% and grass pollen is the most common allergen causing AR in Turkey. 5% of these patients suf...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW The purpose of this paper is to review and discuss studies on molecular diagnosis in fruit and vegetable allergy. RECENT FINDINGS Celeriac, carrot and tomato are the most prevalent allergenic vegetables, whereas fruit allergy is mainly induced by apple, peach and kiwi. Component-resolved molecular diagnosis has been recently applied in two well-defined patient groups with ki...

BACKGROUND We evaluated the profiles of allergic rhino-conjunctivitis and asthma patients annually in Antalya, a Mediterranean coastal city in Turkey. MATERIAL AND METHODS We evaluated patients' allergic clinical status, and recorded the climate and pollens in the city center air, investigating any correlation between pollination, climatic conditions and allergic disorders. The meteorological...