The Acari Hypothesis, VI: human sebum and the cutaneous microbiome in allergy and in lipid homeostasis.

The Acari Hypothesis posits that acarians, i.e., mites and ticks, are causative agents of IgE-mediated conditions.

The Acari Hypothesis, V: deciphering allergenicity.

The Acari Hypothesis posits that acarians, i.e., mites and ticks, are operative agents of allergy.

The Acari Hypothesis, IV: revisiting the role of hygiene in allergy.

Allergy and its manifestations were first appreciated in the 1870 s. Today, the mechanism by which specific substances elicit allergic reactions remains poorly understood. This is problematic from a healthcare perspective because the prevalence of allergic disease and its societal costs are substantial.

The Acari Hypothesis, III: Atopic Dermatitis.

Atopic dermatitis is a chronic relapsing dermatopathology involving IgE against allergenic materials present on mammalian epithelial surfaces. Allergens are as diverse as pet danders, and polypeptides expressed by microbes of the mammalian microbiome, e.g.

The Acari Hypothesis, II: Interspecies Operability of Pattern Recognition Receptors.

Hypersensitivity to galactose-α-1,3-galactose (α-gal) is an informative example of a pathologic IgE-mediated process. By way of their saliva, ticks are able to sensitize humans to tick dietary elements that express α-gal. Mites, which along with ticks constitute the phyletic subclass Acari, feed on proteinaceous foodstuffs that represent most, if not all, human allergens.

Competing Bioaerosols May Influence the Seasonality of Influenza-Like Illnesses, including COVID-19. The Chicago Experience.

Data from Chicago confirm the end of flu season coincides with the beginning of pollen season. More importantly, the end of flu season also coincides with onset of seasonal aerosolization of mold spores. Overall, the data suggest bioaerosols, especially mold spores, compete with viruses for a shared receptor, with the periodicity of influenza-like illnesses, including COVID-19, a consequence of seasonal factors that influence aerosolization of competing species.

Mites, ticks, anaphylaxis and allergy: The Acari hypothesis.

Anaphylaxis is a poorly understood immune process in which a Th2-/IgE-mediated adaptive response commandeers cellular machinery, typically reserved for defense against multicellular ectoparasites, to activate against otherwise benign molecules. Its clinical manifestations consist of rapid pathophysiological reflexes that target epithelial surfaces. The galactose-α-1,3-galactose hypersensitivity response is a compelling model of anaphylaxis for which causation has been demonstrated.

Extracellular transport of cell-size particles and tumor cells by dendritic cells in culture.

Many particulate materials of sizes approximating that of a cell disseminate after being introduced into the body. While some move about within phagocytic inflammatory cells, others appear to move about outside of, but in contact with, such cells. In this report, we provide unequivocal photomicroscopic evidence that cultured, mature, human dendritic cells can transport in extracellular fashion over significant distances both polymeric beads and tumor cells.

A turbidimetric method for measuring the activity of trypsin and its inhibition.

Microscopic poly(styrene-divinylbenzene) beads coated with a monomolecular film of fibrinogen agglutinate when stirred in the presence of thrombin, a consequence of interbead fibrin formation. Trypsin, by digesting bead-bound fibrin, dissociates bead aggregates at a rate proportional to the amount of enzyme activity. The agglutination of beads and the dissociation of bead aggregates can be monitored turbidimetrically using a platelet aggregometer or other photometric device equipped with a stirred cell.

Fibrinogen-coated droplets of olive oil for delivery of docetaxel to a fibrin(ogen)-rich ascites form of a murine mammary tumor.

Micronized droplets of olive oil loaded with docetaxel and coated with functional fibrinogen were administered intraperitoneally to mice bearing the fibrin(ogen)-rich ascites form of the TA3/St mammary tumor. When compared with docetaxel administered intraperitoneally as its commercial formulation (i.e.