Effects of prednisone on the cellular responses and release of cytokines and mediators after segmental allergen challenge of asthmatic subjects.

Background: Systemic glucocorticoids are a major therapy for the management of allergic inflammation and asthma; however, information about their effects in vivo are limited.

Objective: This study was performed to examine the effects of prednisone on inflammatory mediators, cytokines, and cellular responses in the model of segmental allergen challenge (SAC) of allergic asthmatic subjects.

Methods: The effects of a 3-day pretreatment with oral prednisone (30 mg twice daily) on the physiologic and inflammatory responses to SAC were studied in 10 allergic asthmatic subjects in a double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover protocol.

Genome-wide linkage analyses of total serum IgE using variance components analysis in asthmatic families.

Variance components models were used to analyze total IgE levels in families ascertained though the Collaborative Study of the Genetics of Asthma (CSGA) using a genome-wide array of polymorphic markers. While IgE levels are known to be associated with clinical asthma and recognized to be under strong genetic control (here the heritability was estimated at 44-60% in the three racial groups), specific genes influencing this trait are still largely unknown. Multipoint analysis of 323 markers yielded little indication of specific regions containing a trait locus controlling total serum IgE levels (adjusted for age and gender).

Testing for gene-gene interaction controlling total IgE in families from Barbados: evidence of sensitivity regarding linkage heterogeneity among families.

Genetic heterogeneity has been proposed as a hallmark feature of allergic disease. To test the hypothesis that total IgE levels are jointly influenced by a locus on chromosome 12q21.1-q21.

Association and linkage of atopic dermatitis with chromosome 13q12-14 and 5q31-33 markers.

Atopic dermatitis is a chronic inflammatory skin disease that affects 10-20% of the population. Linkage of atopy, asthma, allergic rhinitis, and total serum IgE levels to several different chromosomal regions have been described extensively, but little is known about the genetic control of atopic dermatitis. We tested for the association and linkage between atopic dermatitis and five chromosomal regions: 5q31-33, 6p21.

An IL13 coding region variant is associated with a high total serum IgE level and atopic dermatitis in the German multicenter atopy study (MAS-90).

Background: Allergic diseases are one of the major causes of morbidity in the developed countries today, and the prevalence of these diseases is increasing steadily. Study of total serum gE level is important in understanding the genetics of allergic iseases because IgE levels are considered to be a crucial pathogenic component. IL-13 plays an important role in the induction of IgE synthesis and in the pathogenesis of allergic diseases.