Impact of children's respiratory allergies on caregivers.

Background: Despite the great attention that has been paid to HRQoL in children with respiratory allergy, few studies have addressed this aspect in relation to caregivers. The aim of our study was to evaluate the impact of childhood respiratory allergies on caregivers by means of a new method.

Methods: 119 parents of children suffering from allergies (75 suffering from asthma and 44 suffering from rhinitis) were recruited from three Italian Allergy Units.

Effect of N-acetyl-L-cysteine on ROS production and cell death caused by HEMA in human primary gingival fibroblasts.

Previous investigations have shown that 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) causes reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, which in turn affects cell survival and cell death. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of the antioxidant N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC) on HEMA-induced toxicity in human primary gingival fibroblasts (HGF). HGF were treated with various concentrations of HEMA (0-12 mm) in the absence and presence of NAC (1, 5, and 10 mm).

Tailoring width of microfabricated nanochannels to solute size can be used to control diffusion kinetics.

Top-down microfabrication techniques were used to create silicon-based membranes consisting of arrays of uniform channels having a width as small as 7 nm. The measurement of diffusion kinetics of solutes across these membranes under sink conditions reveals non-Fickian behavior as the nanopore width approaches the hydrodynamic diameter of the solute. Zero-order diffusion of interferon is observed at channel width of 20 nm, and the same phenomenon occurs with albumin and 13-nm-wide channels, whereas Fickian diffusion kinetics is seen at 26 nm and larger pore sizes.

Inhibition of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase amplifies TEGDMA-induced apoptosis in primary human pulp cells.

Cytotoxicity of triethylene glycol dimethacrylate (TEGDMA), a co-monomer of dental resinous restorative materials, is firmly established in vitro, but the molecular mechanisms are unknown. Here we examined apoptosis and necrosis induced by TEGDMA in human primary pulp cells. The levels of apoptotic and necrotic cell populations differentially increased after exposure to increasing concentrations of TEGDMA.

Sensitization to food or inhalant allergens in pediatric patients. Clinical usefulness of first-level panel tests for specific IgE.

First-level in vitro diagnostic tests for specific IgE against common inhalant or food allergens have been used to identify allergic patients. We evaluated the performance of Phadiatop and Fx5 (mixed food allergens) serological tests (Pharmacia Diagnostics AB, Uppsala, Sweden) in different groups of pediatric patients. We studied two groups of pediatric patients: 61 children recruited from an Allergy and Clinical Immunology Unit (Group 1); 136 children from a Pediatric Unit not specifically devoted to allergic diseases (Group 2); the two groups comprised patients with (A) or without (B) clinical suspicion of allergic disease.

Polysaccharides from the fruit bodies of the basidiomycete Laetiporus sulphureus (Bull.: Fr.) Murr.

The two main polysaccharides from the basidiomycetous fungus Laetiporus sulphureus were isolated, purified and characterized. The structural assignments were carried out using (13)C, (1)H, and (1)H,(13) HSQC nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, methylation analysis, and Smith degradation. One was a linear beta-glucan having a (1-->3)-linked main chain, namely laminaran.

Effects of fexofenadine and other antihistamines on components of the allergic response: adhesion molecules.

Intercellular adhesion molecules (ICAMs), in particular ICAM-1, appear to play a crucial role in the recruitment and migration of inflammatory cells to the site of an allergic reaction. Glucocorticoids and allergen-specific immunotherapy have been shown to exert effects on selected components of this system, both in vitro and in vivo, but further research is required to better understand the effects of these therapies. Nasal and conjunctival challenge models (including natural and experimental allergen exposure) represent useful and safe tools for studying the activity of antiallergy drugs in vivo.

Improvement of clinical and immunopathologic parameters in asthmatic children treated for concomitant chronic rhinosinusitis.

Background: Chronic rhinosinusitis is frequently associated with asthma. A Th2 cytokine pattern has been recently reported in chronic rhinosinusitis in asthmatic children.

Objective: To evaluate the effects of treating concomitant chronic rhinosinusitis on respiratory symptoms and function and immunopathological parameters in asthmatic children.

Medical treatment reverses cytokine pattern in allergic and nonallergic chronic rhinosinusitis in asthmatic children.

A Th2 cytokine pattern has recently been reported both in allergic and nonallergic chronic rhinosinusitis in asthmatic children. The aim of the study was to evaluate the cytokine pattern in chronic rhinosinusitis in allergic and nonallergic asthmatic children before and after medical treatment. Thirty asthmatic children were evaluated, 18 males and 12 females (mean age 9.

Fat-sugar see-saw in school lunches: impact of a low fat intervention.

Purpose: To determine the long-term effects of a low fat intervention on sugar content in school lunches

Methods: We calculated contributions of total sugars, 6 specific sugars, and selected nutrients in National School Lunch Program meals served in 56 former intervention, 20 randomly selected control schools that had participated 3 years before in a low fat intervention, and 12 additional schools from neighboring school districts that had never been exposed to the intervention, whose goal was the lowering of total fat to under 30% of calories and saturated fat to under 10% calories. Analysis of variance adjusted for region was used to compare treatment groups. Pearson partial correlations controlling for the effects of region and treatment group were used to assess the strength of sugar and fat relationships.

Rapid anti-inflammatory action of azelastine eyedrops for ongoing allergic reactions.

Background: Some second-generation antihistamines have anti-inflammatory activities, but the clinical relevance of this property is still unclear.

Objective: The aim of our study was to investigate the effects of azelastine when administered during the early-phase reaction.

Methods: This investigation was designed as a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, parallel-group study.

Intraabdominal abscess following open and laparoscopic appendectomy in the pediatric population.

Background: Studies comparing intraabdominal abscess (IAA) rates following laparoscopic appendectomy (LA) and open appendectomy (OA) have shown conflicting results.

Methods: The charts of 324 children undergoing appendectomy were reviewed retrospectively to examine the incidence of IAA.

Results: Of the 324 appendectomies, 204 (63.

Two cases of pediatric neuroblastoma with tumor thrombus in the inferior vena cava.

The authors describe two children with abdominal neuroblastoma with radiographic evidence of tumor extension into the inferior vena cava. Imaging studies were suggestive of Wilms tumor, but histologic analysis revealed neuroblastoma. In one patient a pulmonary embolus developed after initiation of cytotoxic therapy; the second patient was prophylactically anticoagulated and had no embolic event.

[Pseudoathetosis after medullar and pontine hemorrhage].

Introduction: Athetosis is a slow and purposeless involuntary movement which changes in frequency, severity. The term pseudoathetosis is used when this movement is associated with proprioceptive sensory impairment.

Clinical Case: A 63 year old man developed right medulla and pons hemorrhage and presented loss of proprioception in left hemibody and athetosis movements in left hand.

Cytokine pattern in allergic and non-allergic chronic rhinosinusitis in asthmatic children.

Background: Rhinosinusitis represents one of the most common chronic diseases. The association of rhinosinusitis with asthma has been frequently reported. Eosinophils and Th2 cells play a pathogenic mechanism in asthma.

Cysticercosis lesions in basal ganglia are common but clinically silent.

Movement disorders due to basal ganglia involvement by neurocysticercosis are rarely seen. To evaluate the frequency of basal ganglia location of cysticercotic cysts and its clinical manifestations, baseline MRI scans of 120 consecutive patients with active neurocysticercosis were reviewed and the presence and number of active cysticercosis lesions (viable cysts or enhancing lesions) in the basal ganglia were recorded and correlated with demographic and clinical data. Basal ganglia involvement was found in 32 cases (26.

[A case of Isaacs' syndrome associated with dextrocardia].

Introduction: Isaacs syndrome is a disorder of unknown etiology characterized by muscular rigidity, cramps and myokymias. Described by Isaacs in 1961 and called by him as continuous muscular activity syndrome. There are few reports in Latino american countries.

[Chin tremor in a peruvian family].

Introduction: Chin tremor is an uncommon hereditary autosomic dominant disorder, characterized by involuntary, episodic, and repetitive movements involving chin muscles, stimulated by stress. It was first described by Massaro in 1894 like geniospasmo . The most reported cases are from Europeans or Americans families.

Fexofenadine reduces nasal congestion in perennial allergic rhinitis.

Background: Nasal congestion is the predominant symptom in perennial allergic rhinitis (PAR), and it seems to be mainly related to the late-phase inflammatory events. The present pilot study aimed to evaluate the therapeutic effect exerted by fexofenadine in patients with PAR due to mite allergy.

Methods: This study was a parallel, double-blind, randomized, three-arm (1:1:1), placebo-controlled study.