09/17/2024


These results demonstrate the valuable perspectives that Anishnabeg children and youth have regarding their oral health, and are of value to other Indigenous communities that strive to address similar oral health concerns.
These results demonstrate the valuable perspectives that Anishnabeg children and youth have regarding their oral health, and are of value to other Indigenous communities that strive to address similar oral health concerns.
Despite the high incidence of spondyloarthritis (SpA) as an extra-intestinal manifestation of Crohn's disease (CD), the immunopathogenesis of CD-associated SpA remains largely unknown.

We tried to explore molecular mechanisms accounting for the development of CD-associated SpA in a patient successfully treated with infliximab.

Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) before infliximab treatment were stimulated with Toll-like receptor (TLR) ligands to measure pro-inflammatory cytokine responses. Endoscopic biopsy samples before and after infliximab treatment were subjected to quantitative polymerase chain reaction.

PBMCs from this CD-associated SpA patient exhibited higher production of pro-inflammatory cytokines upon stimulation with TLR ligands than PBMCs from healthy controls. Induction of remission by infliximab was associated with the downregulation of pro-inflammatory cytokine responses in the small intestinal mucosa, which is continually exposed to TLR ligands.

Excessive pro-inflammatory cytokine responses to TLR ligands might underlie the immunopathogenesis of CD-associated SpA.
Excessive pro-inflammatory cytokine responses to TLR ligands might underlie the immunopathogenesis of CD-associated SpA.
Vitamin D is closely related to childhood allergic diseases, such as food allergies, atopic dermatitis, and asthma. However, it is unclear whether vitamin D status in the cord blood from mothers is related to food allergies in infants.

We performed a prospective cohort study on the relationship between the cord blood vitamin D [i.e., 25-hydroxyvitamin D3(25(OH)D3)] level and infant food allergies.

This study selected 741 newborns to observe until 6 months of age and used open oral food challenges (OFCs) to diagnose their food allergies. Cord blood and 6-month serum 25(OH)D3 levels of the infants were measured by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry.

The proportion of children with cord blood 25(OH)D3 deficiency (< 20 ng/mL) was 86.27%. Cord blood vitamin D was positively correlated with the supplementation frequency of egg yolk, multivitamins, calcium, and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) during pregnancy and the mother's age. No significant difference was found in the cord blood 25(OH)D3 level between summer born and winter born infants (p = 0.465). After adjusting for seasonal factors, the risk of food allergies in the 25(OH)D3 non-deficiency group was 2.72 times that of the 25(OH)D3 deficiency group. https://www.selleckchem.com/products/OSI-906.html Infants in the 25(OH)D3 non-deficiency group ≥20 ng/mL) had a higher risk of allergies compared with the deficiency group (< 20 ng/mL) (RR = 2.49).

Cord blood 25(OH)D3 is associated with infant food allergies. Maintaining 25(OH)D3 in maternal cord blood at a low level may be conducive to the prevention of infant food allergies.
Cord blood 25(OH)D3 is associated with infant food allergies. Maintaining 25(OH)D3 in maternal cord blood at a low level may be conducive to the prevention of infant food allergies.
Nowadays, moisturizers contain non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents that help for treatment of atopic dermatitis (AD). Defensil® (black currant seed oil, sunflower oil, and balloon vine), a new anti-inflammatory, obtained from plant extracts, remain had a few studies for AD.

To compare the effectiveness of moisturizer containing 3% Defensil®, 5% dexpanthenol and ceramide (LDC) with 5% urea cream in childhood AD treatment.

Thirty-eight patients with diagnosis of atopic dermatitis by UK working party's criteria were recruited in randomized, controlled, double-blinded 4-week study. The patients were received with twice-daily application of LDC cream on one side of the body and 5% urea cream on the opposite side. The clinical severity was assessed by modified scoring of atopic dermatitis (SCORAD). Median time to remission was analyzed by survival analysis.

Thirty-seven out of 38 patients accomplished the protocol. The clinical SCORAD significantly improved from baseline in both groups (p < 0.001) after 2 and 4 weeks. Furthermore, the LDC group significantly reduced severity of disease better than the 5% urea group (P = 0.043). The mean difference SCORAD scores were -13.83 (±1.83) and -13.04 (±3.22) respectively. Stratum corneum hydration (SCH) was enhanced from baseline in both groups (p < 0.001) but no statistically significant difference between both groups. Median time to remission had no statistically significant difference (P = 0.697).

The effectiveness of LDC cream is better than 5% urea cream for improving clinical atopic dermatitis. It was suggested that moisturizer containing LDC could be used for the treatment of mild-to-moderate childhood atopic dermatitis.
The effectiveness of LDC cream is better than 5% urea cream for improving clinical atopic dermatitis. It was suggested that moisturizer containing LDC could be used for the treatment of mild-to-moderate childhood atopic dermatitis.
Hypereosinophilia (HE), defined by blood eosinophils > 1.5 ? 109/L persisting over one month, is commonly found in clinical practice.

This study aimed to explore etiologies, clinical characteristics, and outcome of HE.

The HE patients from a single center in Thailand during 2014-2019 were retrospectively reviewed.

Among 166 HE patients, 102 (61.5%) cases had reactive HE (HER) of which 52% was due to parasitic infestations. Two-thirds of these patients were diagnosed based on the patients' response to empirical anti-parasite therapy. Without secondary causes, eosinophil-related symptoms were found in 20 (12.0%) patients (Hypereosinophilic syndrome HES) of which three of them had myeloid neoplasms (HESN) and one case had lymphocytic variant HES (L-HES). Among 11 of 16 idiopathic HES (HESI) patients who were treated with systemic steroid, nine (81.8%) patients responded well, and two cases obtained symptom improvement with stable eosinophilia. There was 44 (26.5%) asymptomatic HE of undetermined significance (HEUS) and 37 (84.1%) of them had HE for more than 6 months before diagnosis. Marked eosinophilia (> 10 ? 109/L) was more common in HES (37.5%), but it was also found in HER (16.7%) and HEUS (11.4%). During the median follow-up period of 16 months, 82.9% (34/41) of HEUS cases remained asymptomatic while seven (17.1%) patients spontaneously recovered.

A therapeutic trial of anti-parasite is reasonable for asymptomatic HE in tropical countries. Most HESI responded to systemic corticosteroids and HEUS showed benign courses without therapy.
A therapeutic trial of anti-parasite is reasonable for asymptomatic HE in tropical countries. Most HESI responded to systemic corticosteroids and HEUS showed benign courses without therapy.
Recent treatment for food allergies involves the intake of allergy-causing foods at doses lower than the threshold dose determined by the oral food challenge (OFC). For a more successful treatment, it is necessary to identify a biomarker to establish safer doses of allergens in foods consumed at home.

In this study, we aim to investigate whether the pattern of sensitization to cow's milk (CM) is related to the threshold dose of CM.

Fifty patients with sensitization to casein (casein-specific IgE titer ≥ 0.7 UA/ml) and who have undergone the CM OFC test from July 2013 to July 2015 were enrolled. They were examined for the presence or absence of sensitization to β-lactoglobulin (BLG) (BLG-specific IgE ≥ 0.7 UA/ml). They were divided into two groups, namely, the only-casein-specific IgE-positive (C) group, and both casein- and BLG-specific IgE-positive (C + B) group.

The C group had 26 patients and the C + B group had 24. Both the CM- and casein-specific IgE titers were higher in the C + B group than in the C group. The positivity rates determined from OFC test results were 53.8 and 87.5%, and the threshold doses of CM were 88.7 and 31.1 ml in the C and C + B groups, respectively. In patients with low casein-specific IgE titers (≤ 10 UA/ml), the C + B group showed a significantly lower threshold dose of CM than the C group.

Our results suggest that children with CM allergy sensitized to casein alone have a higher threshold dose than those sensitized to both casein and BLG.
Our results suggest that children with CM allergy sensitized to casein alone have a higher threshold dose than those sensitized to both casein and BLG.
Severe cutaneous adverse drug reactions (SCARs) are rare but deadly drug reactions with severe damages to patients. One of the most well-known SCARs risk factors is the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) genes polymorphism. Among the HLA polymorphic alleles, the HLA-A*3303 allele has been found in association with SCARs induced by various drugs, especially in Asian people. There has not been any report on the specific detection protocol of the HLA-A*3303 allele.

This study aimed to design a nested AS-PCR protocol for detecting and distinguishing diplotype genotype of the HLA-A*3303 allele.

A nested allele-specific (AS)-PCR protocol with four primer sets was designed. The method was compared with the Sanger sequencing method on 100 samples of unknown genotypes of unrelated Vietnamese people.

The nested AS-PCR method could identify the HLA-A*3303 allele and the HLA-A*3303 diplotype genotypes. Comparison with the Sanger sequencing method showed an absolute agreement (κ = 1.00, p < 0.001). The nested ASPCR protocol had a sensitivity of 100% (95%CI 92.13-100%) and a specificity of 100% (95%CI 93.51-100%). The protocol was used for the determination of HLA-A*3303 allele distribution in 810 unrelated Vietnamese Kinh people, showing a frequency of HLA-A*3303 carriers of 19.6% and an allele frequency of 10.55%.

A novel nested AS-PCR method with a hundred-percent sensitivity and a specificity for the HLA-A*3303 allele detection was reported. The protocol can be applied for the stratification of patients at SCAR risks with various drugs.
A novel nested AS-PCR method with a hundred-percent sensitivity and a specificity for the HLA-A*3303 allele detection was reported. The protocol can be applied for the stratification of patients at SCAR risks with various drugs.
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has mentioned Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients with moderate or severe asthma as a high risk group for severe illness. While WHO mentioned only chronic respiratory diseases, not specifically asthma as a risk factor for severe illness. There has been asthma prevalence discrepancy in studies of COVID-19 across the world.

This meta-analysis aims to investigate the association between asthma and composite poor outcome in patients with coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

We conducted a systematic literature search from PubMed and Embase database. We included all original research articles with adult COVID-19 patients > 18 years old and had information related to asthma as a risk factor. Studies with outcomes consisting of mortality, severe COVID-19, use of mechanical ventilation, ICU admission, and hospital admission were included in this study. The outcomes of interest were divided into severe COVID-19, mortality and other poor outcomes.

Eleven studies were included in meta-analysis with a total of 6,046 patients.