A randomized controlled trial comparing conservative versus surgical treatment in patients with foot drop due to peroneal nerve entrapment: results of an internal feasibility pilot study.

Background: Based on the lack of literature to support any treatment strategy in patients with foot drop due to peroneal nerve entrapment, a prospective study randomizing patients between surgery and conservative treatment is warranted. Since studies comparing surgery to no surgery are often challenging, we first examined the feasibility of such a randomized controlled trial.

Methods/design: An internal feasibility pilot study was conducted to assess several aspects of process, resource, management, and scientific feasibility.

Peribronchial Inflammation Resulting from Regulatory T Cell Deficiency Damages the Respiratory Epithelium and Disturbs Barrier Function.

Regulatory T cells (Tregs) that express the transcription factor Foxp3 have a critical role in limiting inflammatory processes and tissue damage. Whether Tregs are functional in maintaining epithelial barriers and in control of tight junction expression has not yet been explored. In this study, we investigated the effect of Treg deficiency on the airway epithelial barrier in an experimental murine model in which diphtheria toxin was repeatedly injected in Foxp3-diphtheria toxin receptor (DTR) mice to deplete Tregs.

Innate Lymphoid Cells Are Required to Induce Airway Hyperreactivity in a Murine Neutrophilic Asthma Model.

Rationale: Non-allergic asthma is driven by multiple endotypes of which neutrophilic and pauci-granulocytic asthma have been best established. However, it is still puzzling what drives inflammation and airway hyperreactivity (AHR) in these patients and how it can be treated effectively. Recently, a potential role of the innate immune system and especially the innate lymphoid cells (ILC) has been proposed.

Generalization of fear of movement-related pain and avoidance behavior as predictors of work resumption after back surgery: a study protocol for a prospective study (WABS).

Background: Previous studies indicated that about 20% of the individuals undergoing back surgery are unable to return to work 3 months to 1 year after surgery. The specific factors that predict individual trajectories in postoperative pain, recovery, and work resumption are largely unknown. The aim of this study is to identify modifiable predictors of work resumption after back surgery.

Evidence in peroneal nerve entrapment: A scoping review.

Background And Purpose: Daily management of patients with foot drop due to peroneal nerve entrapment varies between a purely conservative treatment and early surgery, with no high-quality evidence to guide current practice. Electrodiagnostic (EDX) prognostic features and the value of imaging in establishing and supplementing the diagnosis have not been clearly established.

Methods: We performed a literature search in the online databases MEDLINE, Embase, and the Cochrane Library.

Biological Therapy in Inflammatory Bowel Disease Patients Partly Restores Intestinal Innate Lymphoid Cell Subtype Equilibrium.

Patients with Crohn disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) suffer from chronic relapsing intestinal inflammation. While many studies focused on adaptive immunity, less is known about the role of innate immune cells in these diseases. Innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) are recently identified cells with a high cytokine-producing capacity at mucosal barriers.

Fibrogenesis in chronic murine colitis is independent of innate lymphoid cells.

Introduction: Insight in the pathogenesis of intestinal fibrosis is an unmet medical need in inflammatory bowel diseases. Studies in murine models and human organ fibrosis point to a potential role of innate lymphoid cells (ILC) in chronic intestinal inflammation and fibrosis.

Materials And Methods: Dextran sodium sulfate (DSS) in drinking water was used to induce chronic colitis and remodeling in C57Bl/6 wild type (WT), RAG-deficient, RAG common γ chain deficient and anti-CD90.

Nasal epithelial barrier dysfunction increases sensitization and mast cell degranulation in the absence of allergic inflammation.

Background: Increased epithelial permeability has been reported in allergic rhinitis, with histamine and type-2 inflammation being responsible for tight junction dysfunction. The impact of an epithelial barrier defect on allergic sensitization and mast cell (MC) degranulation remains speculative.

Methods: Transepithelial passage of allergens was evaluated on primary human nasal epithelial cell cultures.

Fibrogenesis in Chronic DSS Colitis is Not Influenced by Neutralisation of Regulatory T Cells, of Major T Helper Cytokines or Absence of IL-13.

Mechanisms underlying fibrogenesis in chronic colitis are largely unknown. There is an urgent need for clinical markers and identification of targets to prevent, treat and limit intestinal fibrosis. This study investigated the contribution of major T cell cytokines and T regulatory cells (Tregs) to inflammation and fibrosis induced in a model of experimental colitis by oral intake of dextran sodium sulphate (DSS) in wild type and IL-13 knock-out C57Bl/6 mice.

Stepwise approach towards adoption of allergen immunotherapy for allergic rhinitis and asthma patients in daily practice in Belgium: a BelSACI-Abeforcal-EUFOREA statement.

Allergic rhinitis (AR) affects 23-30% of the European population with equal prevalence reported in Belgium. Despite guidelines on the correct use of effective treatment, up to 40% of AR patients remain uncontrolled. Allergen immunotherapy (AIT) has been shown to improve the level of control up to 84% of patients being controlled by AIT.

Mucosal IL13RA2 expression predicts nonresponse to anti-TNF therapy in Crohn's disease.

Background: Ileocolonic expression of IL13RA2 has been identified as a predictive marker for nonresponsiveness to infliximab (IFX) in patients with Crohn's disease (CD).

Aim: To validate the IL13RA2 biomarker, study its anti-TNF specificity and get a better understanding of the underlying biology driving its expression.

Methods: IL13RA2 mucosal expression was studied in a cohort of adalimumab and vedolizumab treated patients.

Effects of Epithelial IL-13Rα2 Expression in Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

Mucosal IL-13 Receptor alpha 2 () mRNA expression is one of the best predictive markers for primary non-responsiveness to infliximab therapy in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The objective of this study was to understand how IL-13Rα2, a negative regulator of IL-13 signaling, can contribute to IBD pathology. knockout (KO) and wild type (WT) mice were exposed to dextran sodium sulfate (DSS) in drinking water to induce colitis.

Probiotics against airway allergy: host factors to consider.

The worldwide prevalence of allergic diseases has drastically increased in the past decades. Recent studies underline the importance of microbial exposure for the development of a balanced immune system. Consequently, probiotic bacteria are emerging as a safe and natural strategy for allergy prevention and treatment.

Intranasal administration of probiotic Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG prevents birch pollen-induced allergic asthma in a murine model.

Background: There is an increasing interest in targeted application of probiotic bacteria for prevention and treatment of airway diseases, including allergies. Here, we investigated the beneficial effects of preventive intranasal treatment with probiotics Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG and L. rhamnosus GR-1 in a mouse model of allergic asthma.

MP29-02 reduces nasal hyperreactivity and nasal mediators in patients with house dust mite-allergic rhinitis.

Background: Nasal hyperreactivity (NHR) is an important clinical feature of allergic rhinitis (AR). The efficacy of MP29-02 (azelastine hydrochloride (AZE) and fluticasone propionate [FP]) nasal spray on local inflammatory mediators and NHR in AR is unknown. We tested if MP29-02 decreases inflammatory mediators and NHR in AR and if this effect is due to restoration of nasal epithelial barrier function.

Histamine and T helper cytokine-driven epithelial barrier dysfunction in allergic rhinitis.

Background: Allergic rhinitis (AR) is characterized by mucosal inflammation, driven by activated immune cells. Mast cells and T2 cells might decrease epithelial barrier integrity in AR, maintaining a leaky epithelial barrier.

Objective: We sought to investigate the role of histamine and T2 cells in driving epithelial barrier dysfunction in AR.

IL-13 is a central mediator of chemical-induced airway hyperreactivity in mice.

Background: While the importance of the Th2 cytokine IL-13 as a central mediator of airway hyperreactivity (AHR) has been described in allergic protein-induced asthma, this has never been investigated in chemical-induced asthma.

Objective: We examined the importance of IL-13 in a mouse model of chemical-induced AHR, using toluene-2,4-diisocyanate (TDI).

Methods: In a first set-up, wild type (WT) and IL-13 knockout (KO) C57Bl/6 mice were dermally treated on days 1 and 8 with 1% TDI or vehicle (acetone/olive oil) on both ears.

Cluster analysis of sputum cytokine-high profiles reveals diversity in T(h)2-high asthma patients.

Background: Asthma is characterized by a heterogeneous inflammatory profile and can be subdivided into T(h)2-high and T(h)2-low airway inflammation. Profiling of a broader panel of airway cytokines in large unselected patient cohorts is lacking.

Methods: Patients (n = 205) were defined as being "cytokine-low/high" if sputum mRNA expression of a particular cytokine was outside the respective 10/90 percentile range of the control group (n = 80).

Intracranial Solitary Fibrous Tumor.

Solitary fibrous tumours are rare mesenchymal spindle-cell tumours that occur most often in the visceral pleura or liver. If they occur intracranially, they are extra-axially located and develop from the meninges. In those cases, the differential diagnosis has to be made with other intracranial extra-axial-located tumours, such as meningeoma and hemangiopericytoma.

Programmed cell death-1 expression correlates with disease severity and IL-5 in chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps.

Background: Programmed cell death-1 (PD-1) is a negative regulator of T-cell responses. Expression of PD-1 and its ligands PD-L1 and PD-L2 in chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (CRSwNP) is poorly studied.

Methods: Expression of PD-1, PD-L1, PD-L2, TGF-β, IL-5, and IL-10 mRNA was measured by real-time quantitative PCR on tissue homogenates of patients with CRSwNP (n = 21) and healthy controls (n = 21) and on primary epithelial cells.

Genetic Deletion of Tissue Inhibitor of Metalloproteinase-1/TIMP-1 Alters Inflammation and Attenuates Fibrosis in Dextran Sodium Sulphate-induced Murine Models of Colitis.

Background And Aims: Increased levels of tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-1 [TIMP-1] have been detected in both inflammatory and fibrotic lesions in Crohn's disease. In a murine model of chronic inflammation, fibrosis was associated with an increase in TIMP-1 and inhibition of matrix metalloproteinase [MMP]-mediated degradation. We investigated the effect of TIMP-1 deficiency in acute and chronic murine models of colitis.