ACHOO! Allergies can be an annoying condition to deal with and finding ways to prevent them from occurring might make many folks breathe a little easier. Allergies are caused by hypersensitivity to a particular substance (e.g., food, pollen, fur, or dust) and the symptoms experienced are the body?s immune response to that substance. When it comes to allergies, there are actually many different ...

Summary A novel and recently launched food for special medical purposes was discussed by a multidisciplinary expert panel as an option allergic patients. The newly developed lozenge contains the whey protein beta-lactoglobulin (BLG) well micronutrients iron, zinc vitamin A. BLG loaded with ligands (holo-BLG) is one factor of allergy-protective farm effect in numerous scientific studies. Further...

BACKGROUND Even though the Parietaria pollen season may be rather long, many physicians think that Parietaria pollen is a perennial allergen present along the whole year. In fact, many doctors prefer to prescribe allergen immunotherapy (AIT) in Parietaria allergic patients, using continuous courses. On the other hand, physicians usually prescribe pre-co-seasonal AIT course for other pollen alle...

Background Allergies are becoming a serious health burden in developed countries. Increasing numbers of clinical trials and animal experiments show that probiotics are new promising tools in allergy prophylaxis. In the present work we compared anti-allergic properties of the recently described probiotic mixture of Lactobacillus casei LOCK0900, L. casei LOCK0908 and L. paracasei LOCK0919 and L. ...

BACKGROUND Eosinophilic oesophagitis (EoE) is a disorder characterised by oesophageal dysfunction and, histologically, by eosinophilic inflammation. Although treatment, which includes dilatations, oral corticosteroids and restrictive diets, is often effective, choosing the foods to be eliminated from the diet is difficult. OBJECTIVE Component resolved diagnostic by microarray allergen assay m...

Thymocytes must pass a series of checkpoints on the road to becoming mature T cells. On page 603, Mandal et al. show that cells use Bcl2A1, a member of the Bcl2 family of survival proteins, to pass one critical checkpoint. The cell cannot make substitutes for this protein in a pinch, revealing that Bcl2A1 may be uniquely specialized for promoting survival without suppressing proliferation. To b...

Thymocytes must pass a series of checkpoints on the road to becoming mature T cells. On page 603, Mandal et al. show that cells use Bcl2A1, a member of the Bcl2 family of survival proteins, to pass one critical checkpoint. The cell cannot make substitutes for this protein in a pinch, revealing that Bcl2A1 may be uniquely specialized for promoting survival without suppressing proliferation. To b...

Background Food allergy may be life-threatening and affected individuals have impairment in quality of life. Children with multiple and severe food allergies usually have other allergic manifestations like allergy to furry animals and pollen, causing eczema and asthma. Treatment with the anti-IgE (omalizumab) is indicated for severe allergic asthma. Oral immunotherapy (OIT) has been performed i...

OBJECTIVE Pollen grains of the Euphorbiaceae family are well known causative agents of respiratory allergies in India, European countries and USA. Mallotus phillipensis belongs to the same family and may have some common allergenic properties. It has thus been evaluated for the first time in Indian population for its pollinosis causing properties. METHODS Pollen antigen of Mallotus phillipens...

Weed pollen grains belonging to the Asteraceae family contain a variety of allergens inducing type I and IV allergies in susceptible people. The aim of this research was to compare the allergenic properties of immature and mature Shasta daisy pollen grains (Chrysanthemum maximum Ramond) to define the potential role of the maturation process on the allergenicity of Asteraceae pollen grains. The ...