BACKGROUND Natural allergen contact induces an increase of IgE levels and sensitivity but the mechanisms underlying the allergen-specific memory responses are poorly understood. Furthermore, it has not been studied whether allergen exposure affects the molecular reactivity profiles in patients. The aim of this study was to analyze the influence of nasal allergen encounter on the molecular profi...

The development of reliable and clinically relevant potency assays is essential to the practice of safe and effective allergen-specific immunotherapy. Allergen standardization in the United States is based on the establishment of a national reference assigned with a biological potency unit to which manufacturers' products are compared using validated relative potency assays. This ensures, at le...

BACKGROUND Endotoxins are common contaminants in allergen preparations and affect antigen-specific cellular responses. Distinct effects of endotoxin on cells in human umbilical cord and adult blood are poorly defined. OBJECTIVES To examine the effect of endotoxins in allergen preparations on cellular responses in human cord and peripheral blood (PB). METHODS The endotoxin content in beta la...

Epicutaneous allergen-specific immunotherapy (EPIT) is proposed as an alternative route for allergen-specific immunotherapy (AIT). The induction of allergen-specific blocking IgG antibodies represents an important mechanism underlying AIT, but has not been investigated for EPIT. Here, we compared the induction of allergen-specific blocking IgG in outbred guinea pigs which had been immunized wit...

OBJECTIVE To examine the relation between mouse allergen exposure and asthma in Puerto Rican children. METHODS Mus m 1, Der p 1, Bla g 2, and Fel d 1 allergens were measured in dust samples from homes of Puerto Rican children with (cases) and without (controls) asthma in Hartford, CT (n = 449) and San Juan (SJ), Puerto Rico (n = 678). Linear or logistic regression was used for the multivariat...

BACKGROUND The relationship between mite and pet allergen exposure in infancy and the subsequent development of sensitization and asthma is complex. OBJECTIVE We prospectively investigated the effect of allergen exposure at 3 months of age on the development of sensitization, wheeze, and physician-diagnosed asthma in the first 4 years of life in a birth cohort of children with and without an ...

BACKGROUND Airway wall remodelling and inflammation are features of chronic asthma. Transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta) has been implicated in these processes. AIM To determine the effect of allergen challenge on airway inflammation and remodelling and whether TGF-beta isoforms and the Smad signalling pathways are involved. METHODS Thirteen patients with atopic asthma underwent inhal...

Background: Food hypersensitivity to walnut usually results in mild symptoms; however, several cases of anaphylactic reactions to this product have been observed. This study aimed to determine the immunochemical characteristics of the Persian walnut and provide the recombinant form of its main allergen. Materials and Methods: The allergenic proteins of th...

Exposure to indoor allergens is associated with asthma, but there is no standardized sampling method for measuring allergens. We compared the association of measured allergen exposure and serum-specific IgE levels and the precision of three sampling methods (Cyclone, Mighty Mite, and Readivac II) to identify a standardized sampling method for indoor allergens. A random sample of 72 children, 5 ...

In this study we evaluated the role of thromboxane in causing allergen-induced early and late asthmatic responses and airway hyperresponsiveness in asthmatic subjects. Twelve atopic subjects with stable asthma and documented early and late asthmatic responses to an inhaled allergen were treated with placebo or CGS 13080, a specific thromboxane synthetase inhibitor, given orally (200 mg four tim...