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• PMC3633918

PLoS One. 2013; 8(4): e62009.

Published online 2013 April 23. doi:  10.1371/journal.pone.0062009

PMCID: PMC3633918

Vitellogenins Are New High Molecular Weight Components and Allergens (Api m 12 and Ves v 6) of Apis mellifera and Vespula vulgaris Venom

Simon Blank,^1,* Henning Seismann,¹ Mareike McIntyre,² Markus Ollert,² Sara Wolf,¹ Frank I. Bantleon,¹ and Edzard Spillner^1,*

Helene F. Rosenberg, Editor

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Abstract

Background/Objectives

Anaphylaxis due to hymenoptera stings is one of the most severe clinical outcomes of IgE-mediated hypersensitivity reactions. Although allergic reactions to hymenoptera stings are often considered as a general model for the underlying principles of allergic disease, venom immunotherapy is still hampered by severe systemic side effects and incomplete protection. The identification and detailed characterization of all allergens of hymenoptera venoms might result in an improvement in this field and promote the detailed understanding of the allergological mechanism. Our aim was the identification and detailed immunochemical and allergological characterization of the low abundant IgE-reactive 200 kDa proteins of Apis mellifera and Vespula vulgaris venom.

Methods/Principal Findings

Tandem mass spectrometry-based sequencing of a 200 kDa venom protein yielded peptides that could be assigned to honeybee vitellogenin. The coding regions of the honeybee protein as well as of the homologue from yellow jacket venom were cloned from venom gland cDNA. The newly identified 200 kDa proteins share a sequence identity on protein level of 40% and belong to the family of vitellogenins, present in all oviparous animals, and are the first vitellogenins identified as components of venom. Both vitellogenins could be recombinantly produced as soluble proteins in insect cells and assessed for their specific IgE reactivity. The particular vitellogenins were recognized by approximately 40% of sera of venom-allergic patients even in the absence of cross-reactive carbohydrate determinants.

Conclusion

With the vitellogenins of Apis mellifera and Vespula vulgaris venom a new homologous pair of venom allergens was identified and becomes available for future applications. Due to their allergenic properties the honeybee and the yellow jacket venom vitellogenin were designated as allergens Api m 12 and Ves v 6, respectively.

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Prevalence of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis suppression in children treated for asthma with inhaled corticosteroids

PDF / Free    Original Articles (Online only) May 2012, Volume 17 Issue 5: e 34-e 39 Prevalence of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis suppression in children treated for asthma with inhaled corticosteroids RW Smith, K Downey, M Gordon, A Hudak, R Meeder, S Barker, WG Smith Objective: To determine the prevalence of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis suppression in asthmatic children on inhaled corticosteroids (ICS). Methods: Clinical and demographic variables were recorded on preconstructed, standardized forms. HPA axis suppression was measured by morning serum cortisol levels and confirmed by low-dose adrenocorticotropic hormone stimulation testing. Results: In total, 214 children participated. Twenty children (9.3%, 95% CI 5.3% to 13.4%) had HPA axis suppression. Odds  of HPA axis suppression increased with ICS dose (OR 1.005, 95% CI 1.003 to 1.009, P < 0.001). All children with HPA axis suppression were on a medium or lower dose of ICS for their age (200 µg/day to 500 µg/day). HPA axis suppression was not predicted by drug type, dose duration, concomitant use of long-acting beta-agonist or nasal steroid, or clinical features. Conclusion: Laboratory evidence of HPA axis suppression exists in children taking ICS for asthma. Children should be regularly screened for the presence of HPA axis suppression when treated with high-dose ICS (> 500 µg/day). Consideration should be given to screening children on medium-dose ICS.

Respiratory Care Year in Review 2012: Asthma and Sleep-Disordered Breathing

Respiratory Care Year in Review 2012: Asthma and

Sleep-Disordered Breathing

1. Timothy R Myers, MBA RRT-NPS FAARC

1. American Association for Respiratory Care, Irving, Texas.

1. Suzanne M Bollig, RRT-SDS RPSGT REEGT FAARC

1. Sleep and Neurodiagnostic Institute, Hays Medical Center, Hays, Kansas.

1. Dean R Hess, PhD RRT FAARC⇑

+Author Affiliations

1. Respiratory Care Services, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.

Abstract

Asthma has long been recognized as a common respiratory disease, and the recognition of sleep-disordered breathing is becoming more prevalent. Patients with these disorders are commonly seen by clinicians caring for patients with respiratory disease. There is also much academic interest in asthma and sleep-disordered breathing. The purpose of this paper is to review the recent literature related to asthma and sleep-disordered breathing in a manner that is most likely to have interest to the readers of RESPIRATORY CARE.

• asthma
 
• lung function
 
• pharmacology
 
• diabetes
• sleep-disordered breathing
 
• patient education

• 1. doi:10.4187/respcare.02481

     Respiratory Care May 1, 2013 vol. 58 no. 5 874-883
  1. » Abstract
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Footnotes

• Correspondence: Dean R Hess PhD RRT FAARC, Respiratory Care Services, Ellison 401, Massachusetts General Hospital, 55 Fruit Street, Boston MA 02114. E-mail: dhess@partners.org.
• Dr Hess has disclosed relationships with Philips Respironics, ResMed, Breathe Technologies, Pari, Covidien, and Maquet. The other authors have disclosed no conflicts of interest.
• The authors presented a version of this paper at the 58th AARC Congress, held November 10–13, 2012, in New Orleans, Louisiana.

• Copyright © 2013 by Daedalus Enterprises

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Allergen specific immunotherapy induced multi-organ failure. Case report.

Case report 

Cite this article: Aissa Sana, Chaker Ben Salem, Khedher Ahmed, Azouzi Abdelbeki, Sehli Jihed, Ben Saida Imene, Boussarsar Mohamed. Allergen specific immunotherapy induced multi-organ failure. The Pan African Medical Journal. 2013;14:155 Key words: Allergen specific immunotherapy, multi-organ failure, Allergy, drug reaction, desensitization Permanent link: Full Text: http://www.panafrican-med-journal.com/content/article/14/155/full doi:10.11604/pamj.2013.14.155.1891  Cite or link using DOI Received: 17/07/2012 - Accepted: 29/12/2012 - Published: 23/04/2013 © Aissa Sana et al.   The Pan African Medical Journal - ISSN 1937-8688. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Allergen specific immunotherapy induced multi-organ failure

Aissa Sana^1,&, Chaker Ben Salem², Khedher Ahmed¹, Azouzi Abdelbeki¹, Sehli Jihed¹, Ben Saida Imene¹, Boussarsar Mohamed¹

¹Intensive Care Unit. Farhat Hached Hospital, Sousse, Tunisia, ²Department of Clinical Pharmacology. Faculty of Medicine of Sousse, Tunisia

^&Corresponding author
Boussarsar Mohamed. Service de Réanimation Médicale, CHU Farhat Hached,4000 Sousse, Tunisie

Abstract

Allergen specific immunotherapy (ASI) is a well-documented treatment for allergic asthma, rhinitis and allergy to bee venoms. Immunotherapy with subcutaneous injections of allergens extracts has proved beneficial in reducing symptoms of allergic rhinitis and asthma. Side effects due to specific immunotherapy in short term have been largely documented. These effects were various but were usually mild. Fatal reactions are less frequent. We reported a case of a woman, with a history of allergic asthma under specific desensitization protocol who developed an acute multi-organ failure (MOF) consecutive to administration of ASI (Alustal® Stallergenes SA, France). This fatal reaction has never been described as adverse event of specific immunotherapy. We aimed to describe this dramatic reaction, expose the arguments to define the relationship between the administration of allergen extract and the occurrence of this fatal reaction.

Permanent link: Full Text: http://www.panafrican-med-journal.com/content/article/14/155/full

Review

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Genetic susceptibility to Candida infections

1. Sanne P. Smeekens, 
2. Frank L. van de Veerdonk, 
3. Bart Jan Kullberg, 
4. Mihai G. Netea^*

Article first published online: 30 APR 2013

DOI: 10.1002/emmm.201201678

Copyright © 2013 The Authors. Published by John Wiley and Sons, Ltd on behalf of EMBO

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EMBO Molecular Medicine

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Keywords:

• Candida albicans;
• primary immunodeficiencies;
• interferon gamma;
• interleukin-17;
• disease susceptibility

Abstract

Candida spp. are medically important fungi causing severe mucosal and life-threatening invasive infections, especially in immunocompromised hosts. However, not all individuals at risk develop Candida infections, and it is believed that genetic variation plays an important role in host susceptibility. On the one hand, severe fungal infections are associated with monogenic primary immunodeficiencies such as defects in STAT1, STAT3 or CARD9, recently discovered as novel clinical entities. On the other hand, more common polymorphisms in genes of the immune system have also been associated with fungal infections such as recurrent vulvovaginal candidiasis and candidemia. The discovery of the genetic susceptibility to Candida infections can lead to a better understanding of the pathogenesis of the disease, as well as to the design of novel immunotherapeutic strategies.

This review is part of the review series on host-pathogen interactions. See more reviews from this series.

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