Copyright©2014 Baishideng Publishing Group Co., Limited. All rights reserved.
Florin-Dan Popescu, Department of Allergology, “Carol Davila” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, “Nicolae Malaxa” Clinical Hospital, Department of Allergology and Clinical Immunology, 022441 Bucharest, Romania
Author contributions: Popescu FD solely contributed to the manuscript.
Correspondence to: Florin-Dan Popescu, MD, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Allergology, “Carol Davila” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, “Nicolae Malaxa” Clinical Hospital, Department of Allergology and Clinical Immunology, 022441 Bucharest, Sector 2, Romania. florindanpopescu@ymail.com
Telephone: + 40-21-2555405 Fax: + 40-21-2555275
Received November 23, 2013; Revised January 5, 2014; Accepted February 16, 2014;
Abstract
Grass pollen allergy represents a significant cause of allergic morbidity worldwide. Component-resolved diagnosis biomarkers are increasingly used in allergy practice in order to evaluate the sensitization to grass pollen allergens, allowing the clinician to confirm genuine sensitization to the corresponding allergen plant sources and supporting an accurate prescription of allergy immunotherapy (AIT), an important approach in many regions of the world with great plant biodiversity and/or where pollen seasons may overlap. The search for candidate predictive biomarkers for grass pollen immunotherapy (tolerogenic dendritic cells and regulatory T cells biomarkers, serum blocking antibodies biomarkers, especially functional ones, immune activation and immune tolerance soluble biomarkers and apoptosis biomarkers) opens new opportunities for the early detection of clinical responders for AIT, for the follow-up of these patients and for the development of new allergy vaccines.
Keywords: Biomarkers, Molecular allergy, Grass pollen immunotherapy
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April 11, 2014
Molecular biomarkers for grass pollen immunotherapy
April 10, 2014
Probiotics as additives on therapy in allergic airway diseases: a systematic review of benefits and risks
BioMed Research International
Volume 2013 (2013), Article ID 231979, 10 pages
http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2013/231979
Review Article
1Department of Pediatrics, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Bhubaneswar 751019, India
2Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, SCB Medical College, Cuttack 753007, India
3Department of Pediatrics, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh 160012, India
2Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, SCB Medical College, Cuttack 753007, India
3Department of Pediatrics, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh 160012, India
Received 4 April 2013; Accepted 19 June 2013
Academic Editor: Enrico Compalati
Copyright © 2013 Rashmi Ranjan Das et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
Background. We conducted a systematic review to find out the role of probiotics in treatment of allergic airway diseases. Methods. A comprehensive search of the major electronic databases was done till March 2013. Trials comparing the effect of probiotics versus placebo were included. A predefined set of outcome measures were assessed. Continuous data were expressed as standardized mean difference with 95% CI. Dichotomous data were expressed as odds ratio with 95% CI. P value < 0.05 was considered as significant. Results. A total of 12 studies were included. Probiotic intake was associated with a significantly improved quality of life score in patients with allergic rhinitis (SMD −1.9 (95% CI −3.62, −0.19); P = 0.03), though there was a high degree of heterogeneity. No improvement in quality of life score was noted in asthmatics. Probiotic intake also improved the following parameters: longer time free from episodes of asthma and rhinitis and decrease in the number of episodes of rhinitis per year. Adverse events were not significant. Conclusion. As the current evidence was generated from few trials with high degree of heterogeneity, routine use of probiotics as an additive on therapy in subjects with allergic airway diseases cannot be recommended.
Acute urticaria as a side effect of the Mirena(R) (levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine system): a case report
April 9, 2014
Evolutionary insights into the origin of innate and adaptive immune systems: different shades of grey
Stitaya Sirisinha
Abstract: To struggle for survival, all living organisms, from protists to humans, must defend themselves from attack by predators. From the time when life began around 3,500 million years ago, all living cells have evolved mechanisms and strategies to optimally defend themselves, while the invaders also need to survive by evading these immune defenses. The end results would be healthy co-evolution of both parties. Classically, immune host defense is divided into two main categories, namely, innate and adaptive systems. It is well documented that while vertebrates possess both systems, invertebrates and prokaryotes like bacteria and archaea depend almost exclusively on the innate immune functions. Although the adaptive immune system like antibodies and cellular immunity or their equivalents are believed to have evolved at the time when the vertebrates first appeared about 550 million years ago, more recent information from molecular and genomic studies suggest that different forms of adaptive immune system may also be present in the invertebrates as well. These forms of “adaptive” immune system exhibit, for instance, limited degrees of memory, diversity and similarities of their immune receptors with the immunoglobulin domains of the conventional adaptive immune system of vertebrates. Organized lymphoid tissues have been identified in all vertebrates. Very recent molecular and genetic data further suggest that a special type of adaptive system functioning like RNAi of vertebrates is also present in the very ancient form of life like the bacteria and archaea. In this review, I provide some insights, based on recent information gathering from evolutionary data of innate and adaptive immune receptors of invertebrate and vertebrate animals that should convince the readers that our current view on the innate and adaptive immunity may need to be modified. The distinction between the two systems should not be thought of in terms of a “black and white” phenomenon anymore, as recent molecular and genomic information points to the fact that a line of distinction is not as sharp as it was once thought to be, but it is blurred by different shades of grey.
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Chronic Maxillary Rhinosinusitis of Dental Origin: A Systematic Review of 674 Patient Cases
International Journal of Otolaryngology
Volume 2014 (2014), Article ID 465173, 9 pages
http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/465173
Review Article
1Laboratory of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Faculty of Medicine, UMONS Research Institute for Health Sciences and Technology, University of Mons (UMons), Avenue du Champ de Mars 6, B7000 Mons, Belgium
2Laboratory of Phonetics, Faculty of Psychology, Research Institute for Language Sciences and Technology, University of Mons (UMons), B7000 Mons, Belgium
3Laboratory of Neurogenetics and Behavior, Rockefeller University, 1230 York Avenue, New York City, NY 10065, USA
4Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head, and Neck Surgery, CHU Saint-Pierre, Faculty of Medicine, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), B1000 Brussels, Belgium
2Laboratory of Phonetics, Faculty of Psychology, Research Institute for Language Sciences and Technology, University of Mons (UMons), B7000 Mons, Belgium
3Laboratory of Neurogenetics and Behavior, Rockefeller University, 1230 York Avenue, New York City, NY 10065, USA
4Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head, and Neck Surgery, CHU Saint-Pierre, Faculty of Medicine, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), B1000 Brussels, Belgium
Received 19 December 2013; Revised 6 March 2014; Accepted 11 March 2014; Published 8 April 2014
Academic Editor: Charles Monroe Myer
Copyright © 2014 Jerome R. Lechien et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
Objectives. The aim of this systematic review is to study the causes of odontogenic chronic maxillary rhinosinusitis (CMRS), the average age of the patients, the distribution by sex, and the teeth involved. Materials and Methods. We performed an EMBASE-, Cochrane-, and PubMed-based review of all of the described cases of odontogenic CMRS from January 1980 to January 2013. Issues of clinical relevance, such as the primary aetiology and the teeth involved, were evaluated for each case. Results. From the 190 identified publications, 23 were selected for a total of 674 patients following inclusion criteria. According to these data, the main cause of odontogenic CMRS is iatrogenic, accounting for 65.7% of the cases. Apical periodontal pathologies (apical granulomas, odontogenic cysts, and apical periodontitis) follow them and account for 25.1% of the cases. The most commonly involved teeth are the first and second molars. Conclusion. Odontogenic CMRS is a common disease that must be suspected whenever a patient undergoing dental treatment presents unilateral maxillary chronic rhinosinusitis.
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