Activin-A is a pleiotropic cytokine that participates in developmental, inflammatory, and tissue repair processes. Still, its effects on T helper (Th) cell-mediated immunity, critical for allergic and autoimmune diseases, are elusive. We provide evidence that endogenously produced activin-A suppresses antigen-specific Th2 responses and protects against airway hyperresponsiveness and allergic ai...

BACKGROUND Analyses of circulating chemokines offer novel tools to investigate the T helper (Th)1/Th2 imbalance in allergic disease in vivo. OBJECTIVE To relate circulating Th1- and Th2-associated chemokines in infancy to allergic disease, sensitization and probiotic supplementation. METHODS Circulating levels of Th1-associated CXC-chemokine ligand (CXCL)9, CXCL10 and CXCL11 and Th2-associa...

Allergic sensitisation usually begins early in life. The number of allergens a patient is sensitised to can increase over time and the development of additional allergic conditions is increasingly recognised. Targeting allergic disease in childhood is thus likely to be the most efficacious means of reducing the overall burden of allergic disease. Specific immunotherapy involves administering pr...

During the last decade, the field of T cell immunology started to confuse the scientific community. More and more subtypes of T helper cells and their counterparts in the innate immune system are described. We are just at the beginning to understand which specific function the distinct subtypes fulfill. Th22 cells are terminally differentiated and very specialized T helper cells characterized b...

Type 2 T-helper cell (Th2)-skewed immunity is associated with successful pregnancy and the ability to easily direct immune responses to a Th2-polarised profile may be an evolutionary benefit. The Th2-like immunity associated with allergic disease might generate favourable effects for the maintenance of pregnancy, but could also promote development of Th2-like immune responses and allergic disea...

Allergic mucin is described as thick, peanut butter-like mucus impacted in the paranasal sinuses of patients with allergic fungal rhinosinusitis. The presence of allergic mucin in the middle ear has never been reported. We encountered a 65-year-old female with allergic mucin found impacted in her left middle ear and mastoid cavity during revised tympanoplasty surgery at our institute. Bilateral...

The degree to which aeroallergens are contributing to the global increase in pediatric allergic disease is incompletely understood. We review the evidence that links climate change to changes in aeroallergens such as pollen and outdoor mold concentrations and, subsequently, aeroallergen association with pediatric allergic disease. We specifically explore the evidence on both the exacerbation an...

The immediate-type allergic reaction is involved in many allergic diseases such as asthma, allergic rhinitis, and sinusitis. The discovery of drugs for the treatment of immediate-type allergic disease is a very important subject in human health. The three kinds of phenylethanoid glycoside, acteoside, echinacoside and cistanoside A, were extracted from Cistanche tubulosa which thrives in arid la...

introduction: the prevalence of allergic airway diseases has dramatically increased in recent years all over the world. murine models of allergic airway inflammation have provided helpful information about treatment and cellular and molecular mechanisms of the disease. previous published works using murine models to investigate latex allergy did not introduce a complete characteristic eosinophi...

Influence of a nematode immunomodulator and a nematode infection on two models of allergic disease Parasitic worms, like filariae, have the intriguing capacity to modulate immune responses directed against them, and therefore can persist up to years in a host. This immunomodulation does not only protect the parasite but was found to mediate a negative correlation between infections with parasit...