Intramuscular Injection of Autologous Serum in Adolescent and Adult Patients with Atopic Dermatitis: A Preliminary Randomized Clinical Trial

Nahm DH, Kim ME, Kwon B, Kim JS, Park B.  Yonsei Med J. 2023 Jul;64(7):423-432. doi: 10.3349/ymj.2022.0559.

Abstract

Purpose: The favorable clinical efficacies of intramuscular injection of autologous blood in patients with atopic dermatitis (AD) and intramuscular injection of autologous serum in patients with chronic urticaria have been demonstrated by randomized clinical trials. In this study, we assessed the clinical effectiveness and safety of the intramuscular injection of autologous serum in patients with AD.

Materials and methods: In this randomized, placebo-controlled, and double-blind trial, 23 adolescent and adult patients with moderate-to-severe AD were enrolled.

Intranasal antihistamines in the treatment of idiopathic non-allergic rhinitis: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Rhinology 61: 4, 0 - 0, 2023

N. Khoueir - M. G. Khalaf - R. Assily - S. Rassi - W.A. Hamad

BACKGROUND: Idiopathic rhinitis (IR), previously known as vasomotor rhinitis (VMR), is the most common type of non-allergic rhinitis (NAR) which affects around 100 million people worldwide. The treatment of patients with IR is not standardized. Intranasal antihistamines (INAH) are potent drugs in the treatment of allergic rhinitis but are frequently prescribed in the treatment of IR. This systematic review of the literature and meta-analysis aims to assess the effects of INAH on IR.
METHODOLOGY: A comprehensive review of the literature was conducted on Medline, Embase and Cochrane library.

Health-related quality of life and radiological and functional lung changes of patients with COVID-19 Pneumonia 3 and 10 months after discharge

• Research
• Open Access
• 
  

• Cristina De Juana, 
• Susana Herrera, 
• Silvia Ponce, 
• Sergio Calvache, 
• Loubna Dahmazi, 
• Raffaele Vitale, 
• Alberto José Ferrer, 
• Verónica Valentín, 
• Marta Acosta, 
• Irene López, 
• Eva Martínez-Moragón & 
• Respiratory medicine Unit of Universitary Hospital Doctor Peset of Valencia (Spain)

BMC Pulmonary Medicine volume 23, Article number: 231 (2023)

Abstract

Background

Few studies have evaluated the long-term impact on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in patients who have been hospitalized for COVID-19 pneumonia. Specific follow-up should be carried out to detect and treat possible pulmonary abnormalities, and the worsening of HRQoL should be estimated to target necessary resources for care of these patients after acute phase. The objective was to know the impact on HRQoL of patients who have been admitted for COVID-19 pneumonia, and to evaluate the clinical-radiological and functional changes of patients who have overcome COVID-19 pneumonia at 3 and 10 months of follow-up.

Evaluation of the frequency of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in patients with asthma

Matineh Nirouei, 

Mona Kouchekali, 

Homa Sadri, 

Mostafa Qorbani, 

Hadi Montazerlotfelahi, 

Narges Eslami & 

Marzieh Tavakol 

Clinical and Molecular Allergy volume 21, Article number: 4 (2023) 

• details

Abstract

Background

Asthma is the most prevalent respiratory disease caused by chronic airway inflammation. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is children's most common psychological and neurodevelopmental disorder. Increased risk for ADHD in patients with inflammatory and autoimmune diseases supports the role of inflammatory mechanisms in the occurrence of ADHD. However, the association between asthma and ADHD remains unclear.

COVID-related dysphonia and persistent long-COVID voice sequelae: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Highlights

• •

  A quarter of the COVID patients experience dysphonia during acute infection.

• •

  Seventy percent of these dysphonic patients have long-lasting voice sequelae.

• •

  Female has higher tendencies to develop dysphonia only during acute infection.

• •

  Identifying dysphonic patients and strengthening care programs are essential.

Lin CW, Wang YH, Li YE, Chiang TY, Chiu LW, Lin HC, Chang CT. Am J Otolaryngol. 2023 Jun 8;44(5):103950. doi: 10.1016/j.amjoto.2023.103950. Epub ahead of print.

Abstract

Purpose

Dysphonia is a common symptom due to the coronavirus disease of the 2019 (COVID-19) infection. Nonetheless, it is often underestimated for its impact on human's health. We conducted this first study to investigate the global prevalence of COVID-related dysphonia as well as related clinical factors during acute COVID-19 infection, and after a mid- to long-term follow-up following the recovery.

Methods

Five electronic databases including PubMed, Embase, ScienceDirect, the Cochrane Library, and Web of Science were systematically searched for relevant articles until Dec, 2022, and the reference of the enrolled studies were also reviewed.

Resistant Chronic Spontaneous Urticaria – A Case Series Narrative Review of Treatment Options

Khan S, Chopra C, Mitchell A, Nakonechna A, Yong P, Karim MY. Allergy Rhinol (Providence). 2022 Dec 21;13:21526575221144951. 

Abstract

Background

Chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) can be extremely debilitating to the patient and challenging for the treating clinician. The National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) in the United Kingdom (UK) recommendation of omalizumab for patients who fail to respond to high-dose anti-histamines has improved treatment options and quality of life. However, there is still lack of clear guidelines for treatment of patients resistant to standard and anti-IgE therapies.

Methods

We discuss the therapeutic strategies employed among nine extremely resistant CSU cases and the heterogeneity between guidelines from different societies.

Results

Patients with anti-histamine-resistant urticaria either remained on omalizumab or started on immunosuppressive drugs (dapsone or ciclosporin) when they stopped responding to omalizumab. We used clinical assessment, skin biopsies (when available) and previous published reports to consider dapsone (for predominantly neutrophilic infiltration), or ciclosporin at doses between 2 and 4 mg/kg/day. One patient with ciclosporin-resistant urticaria responded to mycophenolate mofetil.

From Amish farm dust to bacterial lysates: The long and winding road to protection from allergic disease.

Vercelli D.  Semin Immunol. 2023 Jul;68:101779. doi: 10.1016/j.smim.2023.101779. Epub 2023 May 19.

Highlights

• Protective mechanisms from natural microbe-rich environments (e.g., traditional farms) may prevent allergic diseases.

• The allergy-protective effects of natural environmental microbial exposures require innate immunity.

• Pharmacological-grade bacterial lysates that engage innate immunity and block experimental asthma may prevent allergic disease.

Abstract

Allergic diseases typically begin in early life and can impose a heavy burden on children and their families. Effective preventive measures are currently unavailable but may be ushered in by studies on the “farm effect”, the strong protection from asthma and allergy found in children born and raised on traditional farms. Two decades of epidemiologic and immunologic research have demonstrated that this protection is provided by early and intense exposure to farm-associated microbes that target primarily innate immune pathways. Farm exposure also promotes timely maturation of the gut microbiome, which mediates a proportion of the protection conferred by the farm effect.

The “allergic nose as a pollen detector” concept: e-Diaries to predict pollen trends

Paolo Maria Matricardi, Tara Hoffmann, Stephanie Dramburg 

Volume34, Issue 6 June 2023 e13966 Open Access

Abstract

Hirst pollen traps and operator pollen recognition are worldwide used by aerobiologists, providing essential services for the diagnosis and monitoring of allergic patients. More recently, semiautomated or fully automated detector systems have been developed, which facilitate prediction of pollen exposure and risk for the individual patient. In parallel, smartphone apps consisting of short questionnaires filled in daily by the patient/user provide daily scores, time trajectories, and descriptive reports of the severity of respiratory allergies in patients with pollen allergy.