Multicenter Study on the Prevalence of Perennial Allergic Rhinitis and Allergy-Associated Disorders This study was aimed to determine the prevalence of perennial allergic rhinitis (PAR) using the skin test, radioallergosorbent test (RAST), or multiple allergosorbent test (MAST) and to clarify the clinical aspects of the patients diagnosed as having PAR by the questionnaire survey and rhinologic...

BACKGROUND The nutritional quality of soybeans (Glycine max) is compromised by a relative deficiency of methionine in the protein fraction of the seeds. To improve the nutritional quality, methionine-rich 2S albumin from the Brazil nut (Betholletia excelsa) has been introduced into transgenic soybeans. Since the Brazil nut is a known allergenic food, we assessed the allergenicity of the 2S albu...

BACKGROUND Respiratory allergy to the pollen of Cupressaceae is becoming more and more common every year in the Mediterranean area. OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to see whether the allergenic potency of Cupressus arizonica pollen diminished after a 6-year period (1994-2000). MATERIALS AND METHODS Among the Cupressaceae, we selected the pollen of C arizonica. The mode of sampling i...

Objectives—Occupational asthma is the principal cause of respiratory disease in the workplace. The enzymes phytase and â-glucanase are used in the agricultural industry to optimise the nutritional value of animal feeds. A relation between these enzymes and occupational asthma in a 43 year old man was suspected. Methods—Inhalation challenge tests were performed with the enzymes phytase, â-glucan...

Allergic rhinitis, the most common type of rhinitis, generally can be differentiated from the numerous types of nonallergic rhinitis through a thorough history and physical examination. Allergic rhinitis may be seasonal, perennial, or occupational. The most common cause of nonallergic rhinitis is acute viral infection. Other types of nonallergic rhinitis include vasomotor, hormonal, drug-induce...

Serum antibodies to four common food antigens, three cows' milk proteins (casein, alpha-lactalbumin and beta-lactoglobulin) and ovalbumin, were investigated in 21 children with atopic dermatitis (aged 3 months to 3 years) and in 15 age-matched healthy controls. Specific IgE was measured by radioallergosorbent test; an ELISA was developed to detect specific IgG, IgG subclasses and IgA. Specific ...

Heinemann C, Schliemann-Willers S, Kelterer D, et al. Allergy. 2002;57:641–645 Purpose of the Study. Atopy patch testing (APT) has been suggested to be a valuable tool in the diagnosis of allergy. The purpose of this study was to examine the reproducibility of APT results and to compare visual evaluation to chromametry and laser Doppler imaging. Study Population. Fifty-two patients with atopic ...

Nerve growth factor (NGF) serum levels were measured in 49 patients with asthma and/or rhinoconjunctivitis and/or urticaria-angioedema. Clinical and biochemical parameters, such as bronchial reactivity, total and specific serum IgE levels, and circulating eosinophil cationic protein levels, were evaluated in relation to NGF values in asthma patients. NGF was significantly increased in the 42 al...

BACKGROUND Current diagnostics for allergies, such as skin prick and radioallergosorbent tests, do not allow for inexpensive, high-throughput screening of patients. Additionally, extracts used in these methods are made from washed pollen that lacks pollen surface materials that may contain allergens. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS We sought to develop a high-throughput assay to rapidly measur...

OBJECTIVES This study aims to investigate the prevalence of allergic rhinitis and the relation between allergic rhinitis and the development of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) and OSAS severity in patients with simple snoring and OSAS. PATIENTS AND METHODS A total of 80 patients (51 males, 29 females; mean age 45.4±8.1 years; range 18 to 69 years) who were admitted to our clinic with ...