OBJECTIVES To evaluate the risk factors for the development of occupational allergy to birds among Polish zoo garden keepers. METHODS A total of 200 bird zookeepers employed in the Polish zoo gardens in KLódź, Warsaw, Gdańsk, Chorzów and Płock and exposed occupationally to bird allergens were examined using a questionnaire, skin prick tests (SPTs) to common allergens and bird allergens, spiro...

PURPOSE Laboratory diagnosis of ocular toxoplasmosis, the major cause of posterior uveitis worldwide, can be improved. Heat shock protein (Hsp) 70 is involved in cellular infection by Toxoplasma gondii but also in the immune response to this parasite. The authors postulate that infected patients may exhibit serum IgG anti-Hsp70.1 antibodies and that determining the presence of these antibodies ...

AIMS To investigate serum leptin levels in Behçet's patients with or without ocular involvement compared with healthy subjects and the relationship between serum leptin and uveitis activity in patients with ocular involvement. METHODS Fifty-seven patients with Behçet's disease and 20 healthy control subjects were included in this study. While 27 patients had ocular involvement (18 had acute u...

Avian Influenza (AI) H9N2 is endemic in Iran; therefore, it is necessary to estimate the disease prevalence among birds in live bird markets (LBMs) and assess the risk spread across the country. Accordingly, this study aimed to estimate the prevalence of AI subtypes in LBMs, bird gardens, and zoos during October and November 2015 in Iran and investigate the associated risk factors. Data related...

PURPOSE Changes in concentrations of acute phase proteins in the serum of patients might be significant in the pathogenesis of Behçet disease. This report investigates the association between ocular disease activity and serum haptoglobin levels in patients with Behçet disease, and summarizes the current understanding of the correlation between acute phase proteins and Behçet disease based on bo...

propose: to evaluate patients with renal transplantation for abnormal ocular findings and to determine the association of these findings with pretreatment dialysis duration, immunosuppressive regimen and underlying disease causing renal failure. methods: this cross-sectional study was performed on 150 patients who had undergone kidney transplantation for at least three months and with serum cre...

PURPOSE Endotoxin-induced uveitis (EIU) is a model that mimics human acute anterior uveitis. Cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 is an enzyme that initiates the conversion of arachidonic acid (AA) into prostaglandins (PGs), whereas 5-lipoxygenase (5-LO) generates leukotrienes (LT). The purpose of this study was to delineate the role of COX-2 in acute ocular inflammation. METHODS EIU was induced in wild-ty...

PURPOSE To evaluate the ocular presentation, treatment, and clinical course of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). DESIGN Retrospective case series. PARTICIPANTS Two hundred and forty-nine patients with systemic GVHD were included in the study. METHODS Ocular and systemic data were collected from 2003 to 2013. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Mortality, visual acuity, and response of ocular symptoms...