Plasma exudation and vasodilatation are key microvascular features of acute inflammation. Exudation and vasodilatation responses in the weal area after skin prick testing with histamine are essentially completed within 30 min. There is evidence to suggest that vasodilatation lasts considerably longer after provocation with allergen, but there is no information on the duration of plasma exudatio...

INTRODUCTION Nasal provocation testing involves an allergen-specific local reaction of the nasal mucosa to the administered allergen. AIM To determine the most objective nasal occlusion assessment technique that could be used in nasal provocation testing. MATERIAL AND METHODS A total of 60 subjects, including 30 patients diagnosed with allergy to common environmental allergens and 30 health...

BACKGROUND The value of impulse oscillometry (IOS) for bronchial provocation testing is poorly defined. We investigated the positive threshold derived from the parameters and diagnostic power of IOS for asthma with the leukotriene D(4) bronchial provocation test. METHODS We enrolled 62 subjects with asthma and 21 healthy subjects. IOS was employed to perform the leukotriene D(4) bronchial pro...

Although airway inflammation and airway hyperreactivity are observed after allergen inhalation both in allergic humans and animals, little is known about the mechanisms by which inflammatory cells can contribute to allergen-induced airway hyperreactivity. To understand how inflammatory cell infiltration can contribute to airway hyperreactivity, the location of these cells within the airways may...

Pillows are known to contain significant levels of indoor allergens and endotoxin, that are of importance to house dust mite sensitized asthmatics. Buckwheat pillows are commonly used in Korea. We studied the levels of the house dust mite allergen, Der f 1, and endotoxin on new synthetic and buckwheat pillows and their accumulation over three months. Endotoxin levels were significantly higher o...

BACKGROUND Both standard and low-dose allergen provocations are an established tool in asthma research to improve our understanding of the pathophysiological mechanism of allergic asthma. However, clinical symptoms are less likely to be induced. Therefore, we designed a protocol for repetitive high-dose bronchial allergen challenges to generate clinical symptoms and airway inflammation. METHO...

As ragweed becomes widespread over China, ragweed pollenosis tends to be more frequent. Incidence of ragweed pollenosis is about 1.04% in Qingdao district. To elucidate ragweed as an allergen in the development of bronchial asthma, ragweed pollen extract inhalation airway provocation tests (APT) were studied in 55 patients with ragweed pollenosis. A single dosage of 9,000 PNU ragweed pollen ext...

BACKGROUND Bronchial allergen provocations are well established in asthma research. We evaluated the reproducibility of single-concentration, single-step allergen challenges in volunteers with grass pollen allergy. METHODS Forty-seven subjects underwent bronchial challenges using the aerosol provocation system nebulizer (Medicaid Sidestream) with incremental doses of grass pollen to define th...

results: the lowest concentrations of nzvi that inhibited the visible growth (mic) of e. amylovora, x. oryzae, b. cereus and streptomyces spp. were 625, 550, 1250 and 1280 ppm, respectively. the minimum bactericidal concentration (mbc) for e. amylovora and x. oryzae were 10,000 and 5,000 ppm of nzvi, respectively. mbc was not observed for the gram positive bacteria. no bacteriostatic and bacter...