Allergic rhinitis is a common disease, which was released by the IgE-mediated atopic individuals exposed to allergens in the earlier researches. However, there are variety of immunocompetent cells and cytokines involved in the nasal mucosa immunologic mechanism in nowadays researches. The mechanism of AR is caused by the imbalance of the Th1/Th2, a kind of allergic inflammation who is characterized by the nasal Th2 immune response dominant. Th1 cells mainly produce of IFN-gamma (does not include IL-4 and IL-5), Th2 cells produce IL-4, IL-5, IL-9 and IL-13 (not including IFN-gamma). Recently it was found that regulatory T cells (T regulatory cells, Treg) and Th17 cell research played a crucial role in the occurrence of allergic inflammation.
Cytokines ; immunology ; Humans ; Rhinitis, Allergic ; Rhinitis, Allergic, Perennial ; immunology ; Th1 Cells ; immunology ; Th2 Cells ; immunology

Allergens ; immunology ; Desensitization, Immunologic ; Humans ; Rhinitis, Allergic, Perennial ; therapy

In order to study the relationship between serum specific IgE (sIgE) and allergen skin test, allergen skin tests and detections of sIgE in 220 allergic patients of Wuhan area were analyzed. The coherent rate of the two methods was beyond 70% (P < 0.01). It was concluded that the in vitro and in vivo detection methods of allergens have a high coherence and can be used as the effective ways to diagnose the allergic diseases in clinical practice.
Allergens ; China ; Dermatophagoides farinae/immunology ; Immunoglobulin E/*blood ; Rhinitis, Allergic, Perennial/*immunology ; Skin Tests ; Urticaria/*immunology

Allergens ; immunology ; Child ; Desensitization, Immunologic ; Humans ; Rhinitis, Allergic, Perennial ; immunology ; therapy ; Treatment Outcome

OBJECTIVE: To explore the inhaled allergen distribution of children with allergic rhinitis in Guangzhou area and to analyze the relevant factors. METHOD: Six hundred and twenty-six cases children in Guangzhou region diagnosed with allergic rhinitis from January 2009 to December 2011 in our outpatient department were tested with skin prick test (SPT). Ten of standardized common inhaled allergens were analysed. The variety of allergens positive rate was calculated. And the gender, age, living environment,history of asthma, eczema, history and family history of clinical data were analyzed. RESULT: The positive rate of SPT was 84.82% (531/626). The dust mites(76.36%) and the house dust mite(72.84%) have the highest positive rate, then the positive rate of the dog hair (11.98%), cat hair (7.03%) and Blattella germanica (4.31%) was degressively. The positive rate was significantly correlated with family history, history of eczema and asthma. The positive rate was correlated with the gender, independent of the living environment. The intensity of the test has no significant correlation with gender, and was significantly correlated with other factors. The positive rate of SPT has significant difference in ages and the highest positive rate of SPT was in the 10-14 age group, the SPT rate was 93.8%. Three groups have significant differences in the positive rate of mite, dog hair and cat hair. CONCLUSION The main inhaled allergen in children with allergic rhinitis in Guangzhou area tested by SPT was mite, dog hair and cat hair, respectively. The different ages, living environment, family history, history of eczema and allergic rhinitis children with asthma were related with the pathogenesis and development of AR in childhood. Our results have the contribution to early diagnosis and intervention of children with allergic rhinitis in Guangzhou area.
Adolescent ; Allergens ; analysis ; immunology ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; China ; epidemiology ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Rhinitis, Allergic ; Rhinitis, Allergic, Perennial ; epidemiology ; Skin Tests

There are increasing evidences that allergic rhinitis (AR) may influence the clinical course of asthma. We conducted methacholine challenge test and nasal eosinophils on nasal smear to patients with allergic rhinitis in order to investigate the mechanism of connecting upper and lower airway inflammation in 35 patients with AR during exacerbation. The methacholine concentration causing a 20% fall in FEV1 (PC20) was used as thresholds of bronchial hyperresponsiveness (BHR). Thresholds of 25 mg/dL or less were assumed to indicate BHR. All patients had normal pulmonary function. Significant differences in BHR were detected in the comparison of patients with cough or postnasal drip and without cough or postnasal drip. There were significant differences of PC20 between patients with cough or postnasal drip and those without cough or postnasal drip (3.41 +/-3.59 mg/mL vs 10.2 +/-1.2 mg/mL, p=0.001). The levels of total IgE were higher in patients with seasonal AR than in patients with perennial AR with exacerbation (472.5 +/-132.5 IU/L vs. 389.0 +/-70.9 IU/L, p<0.05). Nasal eosinophils were closely related to log PC20 (r=-0.65, p<0.01). These findings demonstrated that nasal eosinophilic inflammation might contribute to BHR in patients with AR.
Adult ; Bronchi/*immunology ; Bronchial Hyperreactivity/*immunology ; Eosinophils/*immunology ; Female ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin E/blood ; Inflammation ; Male ; Rhinitis, Allergic, Perennial/*immunology ; Rhinitis, Allergic, Seasonal/*immunology ; Spirometry ; Time Factors

Allergens ; immunology ; Asthma ; therapy ; Desensitization, Immunologic ; Humans ; Practice Guidelines as Topic ; Rhinitis, Allergic, Perennial ; therapy

OBJECTIVETo study the characteristics of allergic reactions to common aeroallergens in young children with wheezing or allergic diseases by examining the results of skin prick test in children under 5 years old.

METHODSA total of 196 children under 5 years old, from a district of Changsha City sampled between September 1 to December 31, 2010, were assigned into two groups according to the presence of wheezing or allergic diseases: allergen screening (n=102) and control (n=94). Skin prick tests were performed on both groups.

RESULTSThe positive rate of skin prick test in the allergen screening group was 61.8% (63/102), and this was significantly higher than in the control group (9.6%, 9/94; P<0.05). In the allergen screening group, the positive rate of skin prick test in children with both recurrent wheezing and allergic rhinitis was significantly higher than in children with wheezing alone (P<0.05). The frequency of wheezing was positively correlated with a positive skin prick test (r=0.91; P<0.05). The positive rate of skin prick test for mites was significantly higher than for other aeroallergens (24.2% vs 3.5%; P<0.05) in the allergen screening group. Skin prick testing of the children for dermatophagoides farinae showed a higher positive rate than for dermatophagoides pteronyssinus (50.0% vs 14.7%; P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONSWheezing in early childhood may be associated with the occurrence of asthma. Skin prick testing contributes to the diagnosis of allergic diseases and assessment of allergic reactions to aeroallergens in children with wheezing.

Asthma ; etiology ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Male ; Respiratory Sounds ; diagnosis ; immunology ; Rhinitis, Allergic, Perennial ; diagnosis ; immunology ; Rhinitis, Allergic, Seasonal ; diagnosis ; immunology ; Skin Tests

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to use a guinea pig model of prolonged allergic-induced rhinitis to characterize the feature of nasal mucosa remodeling. METHOD: Forty-eight male Hartley guinea pigs were randomly divided into six groups: allergen challenged groups (Group OVA(2w) , Group OVA(6w) and Group OVA(12w)) and control groups respectively (Group Sal(2w), Group Sal(6w) and Group Sal(12w)). Each group had 8 guinea pigs. To develop a guinea pig model of nasal mucosa remodeling, ovalbumin-sensitized guinea pigs were repeatedly challenged with allergen twice a week from two weeks to 12 weeks. Matched control groups were challenged with physiological saline. Nasal lavage was performed 24 hours after the last intranasal challenge. Then nasal mucosa were obtained. HE, AB-PAS, MT, and immunohistochemical staining against transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1) were performed. Eosinophil cationic protein (ECP) and OVA-special IgE (OVA-sIgE) were detected by ELISA in nasal lavage fluid. RESULT: (1) The levels of OVA-sIgE in nasal lavage fluid in Group OVA(6w) and Group OVA(12w) were significantly different from Group OVA(2w), while the levels of ECP had no significant difference among the experiment groups. The levels of OVA-sIgE and ECP in experiment groups were significantly different from control groups respectively (P < 0.01). (2) Grade 0 and Grade 1 of epithelial damage were significantly different in Group OVA(6w) and Group OVA(12w) when compared with from Group OVA(2w) (P < 0.01). At the same time, Grade 0 and Grade 1 of epithelial damage were statistically different in the experiment groups when compared with the respectively control groups (P < 0.05). (3) Goblet gland hyperplasia and collagen deposit within the extracellular matrix (ECM) were easily found in Group OVA(6w) and Group OVA(12w) compared with Group OVA(2w) (P < 0.01). The number of goblet gland and the ratio of collagen deposit were statistically more in Group OVA(6w) and Group OVA(12w) than in Group Sal(6w) and Group Sal(12w) (P < 0.05). That feature of the ratio of collagen deposit did not show in Group OVA(2w) versus Group Sal(2w). (4) Increased TGF-beta1 expressions were observed in Group OVA(6w) and Group OVA(12w) compared with Group OVA(2w) (P < 0.01). Those increasing expressions were also observed in experiment groups rather than in the respectively control groups (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION Epithelial damage, goblet cells hyperplasia and collagen deposition in ECM were observed as the features of remodeling in this guinea pig model of allergic rhinitis under prolonged allergen challenge. Epithelial damage, excessive expression of related cytokines and enhancement activity of enzymes were observed in early time after challenge of allergen. The features of goblet cells hyperplasia and collagen deposition in ECM were observed at a later stage.
Airway Remodeling ; Allergens ; immunology ; Animals ; Disease Models, Animal ; Guinea Pigs ; Male ; Nasal Mucosa ; immunology ; pathology ; Rhinitis, Allergic, Perennial ; immunology ; pathology

OBJECTIVETo investigate the relationships between the severity of childhood allergic rhinitis (AR) and the peripheral blood eosinophil count, serum eosinophil cationic protein (ECP), total IgE (tIgE), and allergen-specific IgE (sIgE) levels.

METHODSA total of 138 children with AR aged 3 to 17 (9.96 ± 3.78, x() ± s) years old were enrolled in the study. All children had persistent AR sensitized to house dust mites with a clinical history of 3 months to 12 (4.21 ± 2.72) years. The disease severity was evaluated using 10 cm-visual analogue scale (VAS), and the serum levels of ECP, tIgE and sIgE were determined using an ImmunoCAP system. Statistical analysis was conducted with SPSS11.0 software.

RESULTSAmong 138 children with AR, the VAS scores for global severity of rhinitis and nasal obstruction symptom were 5.32 ± 2.16 and 4.78 ± 2.45, respectively. Blood eosinophil count was 0.39 [0.24; 0.63] (M[P(25); P(75)]) ×10(9)/ml. Serum levels of ECP and total IgE were 10.60 [3.26; 30.80] µg/L and (2.50 ± 0.53) log kU/L, respectively. Serum levels of allergen-sIgE against Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus and Dermatophagoides farinae were 58.20[24.75; > 100] kUA/L and 54.95 [24.55; > 100] kUA/L, respectively. The VAS scores of nasal obstruction symptom, but not global severity of rhinitis, were positively related to the duration of AR (r = 0.215, P = 0.011) and the levels of serum ECP (r = 0.196, P = 0.022) in bivariate correlation analysis. There was also a significant correlation between the serum ECP level and the blood eosinophil count (r = 0.295, P = 0.000). No relationships of blood eosinophil count, and serum tIgE and sIgE levels with global severity of rhinitis as well as nasal obstruction symptom were found (all P > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONSThese results suggested that the severity of nasal obstruction was positively correlated with the duration of rhinitis and the levels of serum ECP in childhood persistent AR due to house dust mites, indicating the disease severity might be related to chronic inflammatory process.

Adolescent ; Animals ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Eosinophil Cationic Protein ; blood ; Female ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin E ; blood ; Male ; Pyroglyphidae ; immunology ; Retrospective Studies ; Rhinitis, Allergic ; Rhinitis, Allergic, Perennial ; blood ; immunology