BACKGROUND Although most children with asthma and rhinitis are sensitized to aeroallergens, only a minority of sensitized children are symptomatic, implying the underlying operation of efficient anti-inflammatory control mechanisms. OBJECTIVE We sought to identify endogenous control mechanisms that attenuate expression of IgE-associated responsiveness to aeroallergens in sensitized children. ...

BACKGROUND Fungal spores and plant pollen cause respiratory diseases in susceptible individuals, such as asthma, allergic rhinitis and hypersensitivity pneumonitis. Aeroallergen monitoring networks are an important part of treatment strategies, but unfortunately traditional analysis is time consuming and expensive. We have explored the use of infrared spectroscopy of pollen and spores for an in...

BACKGROUND Toxocara canis and T. cati are parasites of dogs and cats, respectively, that infect humans and cause human toxocariasis. Infection may cause asthma-like symptoms but is often asymptomatic and is associated with a marked eosinophilia. Previous epidemiological studies indicate that T. canis infection may be associated with the development of atopy and asthma. OBJECTIVES To investiga...

BACKGROUND Repeated exposure to inhaled allergen can cause airway inflammation, remodeling and dysfunction that manifests as the symptoms of allergic asthma. We have investigated the role of the cytokine interleukin-13 (IL-13) in the generation and persistence of airway cellular inflammation, bronchial remodeling and deterioration in airway function in a model of allergic asthma caused by chron...

OBJECTIVE The goal was to estimate the burden of allergic diseases associated with chlorinated pool exposure among adolescents. METHODS We examined 847 students, 13 to 18 years of age, who had attended outdoor or indoor chlorinated pools at various rates. Of them, 114 had attended mainly a copper-silver pool and served as a reference group. We measured total and aeroallergen-specific immunogl...

BACKGROUND Exposure to cow's milk protein in early infancy could lead to increased rates of allergic diseases later in life. We investigated whether feeding a protein-hydrolyzed formula (HF) in the first 6 months of life decreased allergic diseases up to 36 months later. METHODS Newborns who had at least 1 first-degree family member with a history of atopy and could not breast-feed were enrol...

Background This cross-sectional study aimed to identify latent sensitization profiles of asthma patients in mainland China, unveiling the association between regional differences and patterns. Methods 1056 participants from 10 medical centers divided into eastern western cohorts were clustered four individual patterns, respectively, by using an unsupervised statistical modeling method, class an...