BACKGROUND Prenatal exposure to both stress and aeroallergens (dust mite) may modulate the fetal immune system. These exposures may interact to affect the newborn immune response. We examined associations between prenatal maternal stress and cord blood total IgE in 403 predominately low-income minority infants enrolled in the Asthma Coalition on Community, Environment, and Social Stress (ACCESS...

Inducible anti-herbivore defenses in plants are predominantly regulated by jasmonic acid (JA). On tomato plants, most genotypes of the herbivorous generalist spider mite Tetranychus urticae induce JA defenses and perform poorly on it, whereas the Solanaceae specialist Tetranychus evansi, who suppresses JA defenses, performs well on it. We asked to which extent these spider mites and the predato...

A comparison was made of the prevalence and relative quantification of deformed wing virus (DWV), Israeli acute paralysis virus (IAPV), black queen cell virus (BQCV), Kashmir bee virus (KBV), acute bee paralysis virus (ABPV) and sac brood virus (SBV) in brood and adult honey bees (Apis mellifera) from colonies selected for high (HMP) and low (LMP) Varroa destructor mite population growth. Two v...

A significant-source of allergens come from house dust that contain particles derived from arthropods, molds, and pet dander. This study evaluated mite and booklouse fauna from vacuumed dust samples in Beijing China (a temperate zone). Our survey was carried out in Beijing in the homes of mite allergic patients who visited our Allergy Department. In total, 38 homes were selected for the collect...

The house dust mite is a major cause of respiratory allergy worldwide. The management of mite allergy is based on avoidance measures, drug treatment, and allergen immunotherapy, but only allergen immunotherapy is able to modify the natural history of the disease. Injectable subcutaneous immunotherapy was introduced a century ago, while sublingual immunotherapy was proposed in the 1980s and emer...

BACKGROUND The ADAM33 gene has been identified as a potentially important asthma candidate gene and polymorphisms in this gene have been shown to be associated with asthma and seasonal allergic rhinitis. OBJECTIVE To assess whether the ADAM33 polymorphisms are associated with persistent allergic rhinitis (PER) due to house dust mites in a Chinese population. METHODS In a hospital-based case...

BACKGROUND Studies have demonstrated that IgE-binding cross-reactive epitopes between shrimp, cockroach, and house dust mite tropomyosins can account for the presence of detectable IgE to shrimp in patients with cockroach and dust mite allergies. OBJECTIVE We investigated the correlation between IgE-mediated sensitization to shrimp, cockroach, and dust mite in relation to allergen exposure in...

We studied the parasitism by the chigger mite Eutrombicula alfreddugesi on four sympatric lizard species of the genus Tropidurus in Morro do Chapéu, Bahia state, Brazil: T. hispidus, T. cocorobensis, T. semitaeniatus and T. erythrocephalus. For each species, we investigated the patterns of infestation and analyzed to which extent they varied among the hosts. We calculated the spatial niche brea...

BACKGROUND The effectiveness of acaricides in homes is controversial. OBJECTIVE To determine whether disodium octaborate tetrahydrate (DOT) combined with vacuuming lowers dust mite numbers and their allergens in carpets and sofas. METHODS A 6-month study was carried out with 93 homes, which were randomized into three groups: (i). active, received DOT; (ii). placebo, received water; and (iii...

Although some studies have indicated that helminthic infections and house dust mite exposure may have an alleviating effect on wheeze, an interaction effect of both risk factors has not been examined in Thailand. The objective of this study was to investigate whether exposure to helminthic infections together with house dust mite allergen was associated with wheeze in children aged 18-36 months...