The aim of lumbar disc herniation surgery is the removal of herniated disc material (HDM) and complete decompression of the nerve root. As some patients present with residual HDM, we examined the ability of intraoperative ultrasound (IOUS) to detect this material. Between February 2006 and June 2007, we used IOUS in 30 patients undergoing surgery for lumbar disc herniation. They were 17 men and...

TOPIC: Allergy and Airway TYPE: Original Investigations PURPOSE: Severe asthma is characterized by higher rates of airway hyperresponsiveness concomitantly increased eosinophilic neutrophilic systemic inflammation in which bradykinin plays a central role. Aerobic exercise (AE) the main component pulmonary rehabilitation inhibiting mild moderate asthmatics. In addition, AE mouse models allergic ...

BACKGROUND IgE reactivity to antigens from Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria is common in patients suffering from respiratory and skin manifestations of allergy, but the routes and mechanisms of sensitization are not fully understood. The analysis of the genome, transcriptome and microbiome of house dust mites (HDM) has shown that Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and Escherichia coli (E...

Asthma patients show evidence of a procoagulant state in their airways, accompanied by an impaired function of the anticoagulant protein C system. We aimed to study the effect of recombinant human activated protein C (rhAPC) in allergic asthma patients.We conducted a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, proof-of-concept study in house dust mite (HDM) allergic asthma patients. Patients ...

AIMS To evaluate the clinical efficacy of sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT) in respiratory allergy in children. METHODS A systematic literature review was conducted. The search was focused on all the double blind (and double dummy if necessary) studies. SEARCH STRATEGY Medline, Embase, Cochrane Controlled Trial Register, Abstract of Cochrane Airways Group, hand search, and archives of some SL...

Results HDM-allergic individuals suffering from asthma showed striking differences regarding their IgE reactivity profiles compared to the non-asthmatic group. First, the frequency of IgE reactivity to the tested HDM allergens was up to 3fold higher in the asthmatic than in the non-asthmatic group. Seventy percent of the asthmatics reacted with 3 to 6 of the tested allergens compared to only 45...

The mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) plays an important role in cell growth/differentiation, integrating environmental cues, and regulating immune responses. Our lab previously demonstrated that inhibition of mTOR with rapamycin prevented house dust mite (HDM)-induced allergic asthma in mice. Here, we utilized two treatment protocols to investigate whether rapamycin, compared to the steroid...

INTRODUCTION Polymorphisms within innate immunity genes are associated with allergic phenotypes but results are variable. These associations were not analyzed with respect to allergen exposure. We investigated associations of TLR and CD14 polymorphisms with allergy phenotypes in the context of house dust mite (HDM) exposure. MATERIAL AND METHODS Children, aged 12-16 years (n=326), were recrui...

House dust mite (HDM) represents one of the most common sources of aeroallergens worldwide and more than 50% of allergic patients are sensitized to these allergenic molecules. HDM allergy research in the past has been mainly focused on adaptive, mite allergen-dependent immune responses. In recent years it has become clear that, although the allergenspecific CD4+ Th2 cells orchestrate HDM allerg...