Melaleuca tree and respiratory disease.

Background: The role of Melaleuca quinquenervia tree as a source of allergen(s) and respiratory irritant(s) is controversial.

Objective: Determine whether Melaleuca tree pollen or odor is medically important.

Methods: A 2-year aeroallergen survey and skin test (ST) results of 1,017 subjects were reviewed.

PCR analysis of nasal polyps, chronic sinusitis, and hypertrophied turbinates for DNA encoding bacterial 16S rRNA.

Background: Nasal polyps are considered to result from chronic inflammation, but the initial or persisting stimulus for the inflammation is not known. A variety of bacteria and fungi have been cultured from nasal polyps, but approximately 35% have sterile cultures. Previously, Mycoplasma pneumoniae-specific DNA was detected in human nasal polyps using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) techniques, suggesting M.

The cystic fibrosis conductance regulator gene exon sequence is normal in a patient with edematous eosinophilic nasal polyps.

Nasal polyps are the most common mass lesions found in the nose and their etiology is unknown. Nasal polyps from cystic fibrosis (CF) patients are histologically distinct from nasal polyps from patients without CF. It has been suggested that a mutation (G551D) of the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene may play a role in nasal polyp formation in patients without CF.

Allergenicity of the cat flea (Ctenocephalides felis felis).

Adult fleas, spent and unspent culture media were extracted and the radio-allergosorbent test (RAST) performed with sera of 48 cat flea skin test-positive individuals from the Tampa Bay area of Florida. Sixteen sera (33.6%) had a positive RAST to the cat flea extract prepared in our laboratory [1.

Nasal and bronchial provocation challenges with bayberry (Myrica cerifera) pollen extract.

Southern bayberry, distributed throughout the southeastern United States, is the source of the fifth most common windborne tree pollen in Tampa, Fla. Fifteen percent of 400 consecutive subjects evaluated for allergic respiratory symptoms in the Tampa Bay area had positive skin tests to bayberry pollen extract. Bayberry pollen extract was obtained commercially and used to perform 25 nasal and 22 bronchial challenges on 45 subjects.

A three-year aerobiologic pollen survey of the Tampa Bay area, Florida.

An aerobiologic survey using a rotoslide sampler was conducted daily (January 1979 through December 1981) in Tampa, Florida. A major tree pollen season (Dec. through May) consisted of oak, pine, Australian pine, bald cypress, cedar, bayberry and mulberry.

House dust mite allergy in Florida. Mite survey in households of mite-sensitive individuals in Tampa, Florida.

This study evaluated the prevalence of positive house dust mite skin tests in a population of atopic individuals and identified the mite species present in mattress and house dust samples in homes of the Tampa Bay area. Four hundred consecutive individuals were evaluated for respiratory complaints and skin tested with standardized extracts of Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus (Dp) and Dermatophagoides farinae (Df). Two hundred forty individuals (60%) had a positive skin test to the mite extracts.

Evaluation of the safety and efficacy of multiple doses of azelastine to adult patients with bronchial asthma over time.

Azelastine is a new oral antiasthma agent with bronchodilating and antiallergic properties. This 12-wk study compared azelastine (2, 4, 6, and 8 mg) and placebo given twice a day in asthmatics 12 to 60 yr of age requiring daily bronchodilator therapy. Patients were allowed albuterol aerosol, short-acting theophylline, and pseudoephedrine only as needed.

Bahia grass pollen, a significant aeroallergen: evidence for the lack of clinical cross-reactivity with timothy grass pollen.

Thirty-eight subjects were challenged (25 nasal, 13 bronchial) with Bahia grass, Paspalum notatum, pollen extract. A positive Bahia intradermal skin test predicted a positive challenge to Bahia in all (11/11) of the nasal challenges and 75% (6/8) of the bronchial challenges. All 19 subjects with negative Bahia intradermal skin tests had negative challenges with Bahia.

Australian pine (Casuarina equisetifolia) pollen as an aeroallergen.

Sixty-seven nasal and bronchial provocation tests were performed with Australian pine pollen extract (APE) on 61 subjects. A positive nasal response was elicited in 10 of 14 (71%) subjects with allergic rhinitis and positive APE skin tests and in none of 23 control subjects with negative APE skin tests. A positive bronchial challenge was elicited in 5 of 10 (50%) extrinsic asthmatics with positive APE skin tests and in none of 20 control subjects with negative APE skin tests.

A dose-response study of the bronchodilator action of azelastine in asthma.

Azelastine is an orally effective inhibitor of mediator activity in allergic reactions and has also been demonstrated to have bronchodilator activity. In this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter study, 150 patients, aged 12 to 60 years, with moderate to severe asthma, received a single oral dose of 2, 4, 8, 12, or 16 mg of azelastine or placebo. Theophylline was stopped 24 hours and other bronchodilators at least 8 hours before the study day.

Comparison of inhaled albuterol powder and aerosol in asthma.

In this multicenter, randomized, double-blind study comparing the efficacy and safety of aerosolized albuterol with the dry powder formulation, 231 patients with chronic reversible obstructive airway disease were randomly allocated to receive either placebo albuterol aerosol followed immediately by active albuterol powder (200 micrograms) or active albuterol aerosol (two puffs, 180 micrograms) followed immediately by placebo lactose powder four times a day for a period of 12 weeks. No statistically significant differences were found between the powder and aerosol formulations with respect to pulmonary function, length of time mean FEV1 remained greater than or equal to 15% above baseline, physicians' assessments of patients' clinical response, or patients' subjective symptom scores. There were also no significant differences between treatment groups in cardiovascular effects, laboratory values, or adverse events.

Bald cypress tree (Taxodium distichum) pollen, an allergen.

Fifty-seven nasal and bronchial provocation tests were performed with bald cypress pollen extract (BCE) on 41 subjects. A positive nasal response was elicited in 12 of 17 (71%) subjects with allergic rhinitis and positive BCE skin tests, and in none of 16 control subjects. A positive bronchial challenge was elicited in two of ten extrinsic asthmatics with positive BCE skin tests, and in none of 14 control subjects.