Cockroach allergy is a health problem in many parts of the world. In urban environments, indoor exposure to cockroach allergens involves a risk of asthma. The aim of this study was to measure the mass fraction of Bla g 1, a major allergen of the German cockroach (Blatella germanica) in 30 house samples, collected at random from Zagreb area households, Croatia. Dust samples were collected on cel...

Fipronil sulfone, a major metabolite of fipronil in both insects and mammals, binds strongly to GABA receptors and is thought to play a significant role in poisoning by fipronil. To better understand the mechanism of selective insecticidal action of fipronil, we examined the effects of its sulfone metabolite on GABA- and glutamate-activated chloride channels (GluCls) in cockroach thoracic gangl...

The aim of this study was to determine the aeroallergen sensitivity of allergic rhinitis patients. A total of 100 cases (female: 59, male: 41, aged between 10-59 years, mean age 27.9 years) who were diagnosed with allergic rhinitis by history and clinical presentation, underwent a prick skin test with 30 aeroallergens, and the important sensitizing allergens were assessed. Skin test reactivity ...

The allergenicities of tropomyosins from different organisms have been reported to vary. The cDNA encoding German cockroach tropomyosin (Bla g 7) was isolated, expressed, and characterized previously. In the present study, the amino acid sequence variations in German cockroach tropomyosin were analyzed in order to investigate its influence on allergenicity. We also undertook the identification ...

Allatostatins (ASTs) are a class of regulatory neuropeptides, with diverse functions, found in an array of invertebrate phyla. ASTs have complex gene structure, in which individual ASTs are cleaved from a precursor peptide. Little is known about the molecular evolution of AST structure and function, even in extensively studied groups such as cockroaches. This paper presents the application of a...

BACKGROUND There are numerous data that show a strong relationship between early exposure and sensitization to indoor allergens and the development of asthma and persistent wheezing in children. Most studies, however, have only examined the prevalence of allergy in children who have been identified as having asthma. OBJECTIVE To assess the prevalence of positive skin test results to common in...

Complete synoptic redescriptions, including complete morphometric data for all life cycle stages, species recognition characters, and differential comparisons are presented for the 4 gregarine species comprising Blabericola . Blabericola cubensis ( Peregrine, 1970 ), Blabericola haasi (Geus, 1969), Blabericola migrator ( Clopton, 1995 ), and Blabericola princisi ( Peregrine, 1970 ) are redescri...

We report that a major 23-kDa allergen from German cockroach (Blattella germanica) is a glutathione S-transferase (EC 2.5.1.18; GST). Natural B. germanica GST, purified from cockroach body extracts by glutathione affinity chromatography, and recombinant protein expressed in Escherichia coli using the pET21a vector, showed excellent IgE antibody binding activity. B. germanica GST caused positive...

BACKGROUND Cockroaches are of vital importance medically and hygienically as they can disperse human pathogenic agents and are especially responsible for food contamination and spreading of food borne pathogens. In this study, part of mtDNA-COI gene of five common pest cockroaches was tested for diagnostic and phylogenetic purposes. METHODS We have described barcode region of mtDNA-COI gene o...

OBJECTIVE We calculated the population attributable fraction (PAF) of Canadian childhood asthma due to modifiable environmental exposures, in order to estimate their relative contributions to asthma development based on the current literature. METHODS We conducted a systematic review to determine Canadian childhood asthma incidence, Canadian prevalence of exposure to airborne pollutants and i...