Prediction of the incidence and persistence of allergic rhinitis in adolescence: a prospective cohort study.

Background: Predictive models have rarely been used in allergy research and practice. However, they might support physicians in advising patients.

Objective: The aim of this study was to create predictive models for the incidence and persistence of allergic rhinitis (AR) during adolescence.

Exhaled breath condensate nitrite--methodological problems of sample collection.

Background: Exhaled breath condensate (EBC) analysis is a promising new method to monitor airway inflammation, however there are still multiple open methodological questions. The purpose of this study was therefore to investigate methodological influences on nitrite in EBC (surface contamination, flow dependency, storage time and inter- and within day variability).

Material/methods: EBC samples of 10 healthy children, 10 healthy adults and 71 asthmatic children were collected and nitrite was analysed using the Griess reaction.

Exhaled breath condensate pH in infants and children with acute and recurrent wheezy bronchitis.

The analysis of exhaled breath condensate (EBC) is a promising new method to measure airway inflammation. So far only limited data exist about methodological issues of EBC sampling in infants and young children. We evaluated 18 children with acute wheezy bronchitis (median age 24.

Optical rhinometry: application on children and adolescents for nasal provocation tests.

Optical rhinometry is a new method that allows the direct, real time measurement of changes in swelling of the nasal mucosa by external measurement. The measurement is carried out with monochromatic near-infrared light. The change of intensity of the swelling is displayed and recorded.

Leisure time activity and new onset of wheezing during adolescence.

Asthma prevalence is increasing in adult and paediatric patients. In the present study, the association between different leisure time activities and new onset of wheezing was analysed in adolescents aged 16-18 yrs taking part in a questionnaire-based follow-up of the International Study on Asthma and Allergies in Childhood in Munich and Dresden, Germany. Of the 3,785 adolescents who took part in the follow-up (76% response), 2,910 adolescents without earlier episodes of wheezing in childhood were included in the analyses.

First months of employment and new onset of rhinitis in adolescents.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the incidence of rhinitis in adolescents, taking into account the duration and type of employment in holiday and vocational jobs, and to study latency until development of symptoms. Participants of the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC)-II study in Munich and Dresden (Germany), who were enrolled in 1995, were re-contacted by a postal questionnaire in 2002 (aged 16-18 yrs). The questionnaire focused on allergic rhinitis, type and duration of all jobs, and potential confounders.

Assessing bronchial responsiveness to hypertonic saline using the stepwise protocol of Phase Two of the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC II).

Measurement of bronchial responsiveness to hypertonic saline was applied in 22 study centers worldwide as part of Phase Two of the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC Phase Two). Because the amount of inhaled saline was difficult to standardize during the stepwise protocol with inhalation periods of increasing duration, we evaluated different statistical procedures based on inhalation time in relation to wheeze and current asthma. Data on random samples on 9 to 11-year-old children (n = 1,418) from two German centers were analyzed.

Adolescents' jobs and the course of dermatitis symptoms throughout puberty.

Objectives: This study evaluated the course of dermatitis symptoms throughout puberty taking into account occupational exposures in a population-based study.

Methods: Participants enrolled in the ISAAC-II (International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood) study in Munich and Dresden in 1995 and 1996 were sent a postal questionnaire in 2002 (age at follow-up 16 to 18 years). The questionnaire included items on atopic diseases, jobs, including holiday jobs and vocational training, and potential confounders.

Do respiratory symptoms predict job choices in teenagers?

Existing guidelines advise adolescents with asthma and allergies against high-risk occupations. The aim of the current authors' analyses was to investigate the resulting self-selection in a prospective cohort study. The participants of Phase II of the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood in Germany (aged 9-11 yrs at baseline) were re-contacted after 7 yrs (response rate was 77%) and were asked to complete a questionnaire, which included items on atopic diseases.

Smoking and the incidence of asthma during adolescence: results of a large cohort study in Germany.

Background: The association between smoking and asthma or wheeze has been extensively studied in cross sectional studies, but evidence from large prospective cohort studies on the incidence of asthma during adolescence is scarce.

Methods: We report data from a cohort study in two German cities, Dresden and Munich. The study population (n = 2936) was first studied in 1995/6 at age 9-11 years as part of phase II of the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC II) and followed up in 2002/3.

Atopic dermatitis, extrinsic atopic dermatitis and the hygiene hypothesis: results from a cross-sectional study.

Background: Atopic Dermatitis (AD), hayfever and asthma are commonly summarized as atopic diseases. The spatial distribution of AD differs from that of asthma and hayfever, suggesting that AD might follow a different risk pattern than these diseases. AD can be differentiated into an allergic extrinsic form (EAD) and a non-allergic intrinsic form (IAD).

G-Protein-coupled receptor polymorphisms are associated with asthma in a large German population.

Rationale: Recently, a new asthma susceptibility gene, GPRA (G-protein-related receptor for asthma), has been identified by positional cloning. Initial association studies in a Finnish and Canadian population suggested an association with asthma and elevated serum IgE levels.

Objective: In a large, nested case-control study, associations between GPRA polymorphisms, asthma, and serum IgE levels were analyzed.

Mucoepidermoid carcinoma as an unusual cause for recurrent respiratory infections in a child.

Recurrent respiratory infections in a 9-year-old girl prompted a chest radiograph and a CT scan, which showed a right middle lobe consolidation. Bronchoscopy revealed a tumor that totally obstructed the middle lobe. Open lung biopsy revealed a low-grade mucoepidermoid carcinoma.

NOD1 variation, immunoglobulin E and asthma.

Asthma is a familial inflammatory disease of the airways of the lung. Microbial exposures in childhood protect against asthma through unknown mechanisms. The innate immune system is able to identify microbial components through a variety of pattern-recognition receptors (PRRs).

A prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled multi-centre study on the efficacy and safety of sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT) in children with seasonal allergic rhinoconjunctivitis to grass pollen.

Background: Especially in childhood, sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT) could offer advantages over subcutaneous therapy. However, limited data on its efficacy is available.

Methods: In four German centres 97 children (age 3-14 years) with allergic rhinoconjunctivitis to grass pollen were enrolled in a prospective, double-blind trial comparing SLIT (Pangramin SLIT; ALK-SCHERAX, 0.

Glutathione S transferase deficiency and passive smoking increase childhood asthma.

Background: It has been suggested that the genetically determined deficiency of glutathione S transferase (GST) enzymes involved in the detoxification of environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) components may contribute to the development of asthma.

Methods: A large population of German schoolchildren (n = 3054) was genotyped for deficiencies of the GST isoforms M1 and T1. The association between GSTM1 and GSTT1 genotypes and asthma as well as atopy was investigated with respect to current and in utero ETS exposure.

A promoter polymorphism in the CD14 gene is associated with elevated levels of soluble CD14 but not with IgE or atopic diseases.

Background: A polymorphism in the promoter region of the CD14 gene, C-159T, has been shown to be associated with increased levels of soluble CD14 (sCD14) and decreased serum immunoglobulin E (IgE) and the expression of a more severe atopic phenotype in previous studies.

Methods: To test if these associations are consistently found in different populations and different age groups, we genotyped 2048 children of different age groups as well as 888 adults from different regions of Germany for the CD14 C-159T polymorphism.

Results: While an association between this promoter polymorphism and levels of sCD14 could be confirmed in our study population (CC: 1017 ng/ml vs TT: 1370 ng/ml, P = 0.

Predictors of health care utilization of children with asthma in the community.

The aim of this study was to assess the pattern of use of health care services among children with asthma symptoms within the community, and assess groups at increased risk of emergency department (ED) visits or hospital admissions (HA). Using International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood phase II protocol, information about asthma management and utilization of health care services was collected by parental questionnaire in a community-based random sample of 5-7- and 9-11-year-old children (n = 11,094) in Dresden and Munich. Only 11.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Burkholderia cepacia cannot be detected by PCR in the breath condensate of patients with cystic fibrosis.

The collection of sputum for microbiological examination in young cystic fibrosis patients can be very difficult. However, a knowledge of bacterial flora colonizing the patient's airways is of paramount importance for proper antimicrobial therapy. It is also known that cystic fibrosis patients colonized by Pseudomonas species have a poorer prognosis than Pseudomonas-negative patients.

Association between polymorphisms in caspase recruitment domain containing protein 15 and allergy in two German populations.

Background: Early exposure to microbial matter such as LPS may influence the development of asthma and allergies by activation of innate immunity pathways as indicated by studies in farming environments. Recently, polymorphisms in caspase recruitment domain containing protein 15 (CARD15), an intracellular LPS receptor protein, have been associated with Crohn's disease. Because these polymorphisms lead to changes in LPS recognition, they may affect the development of asthma and allergies.

The management of childhood asthma in the community.

The aim of the present study was to assess the management of children with asthma in the community. Community-based random samples of children aged 5-7 and 9-11 yrs in Dresden and Munich, Germany, were studied in 1995-1996 using the phase II protocol of the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood. Detailed information on the use of antiasthma drugs and accessory treatment in the past year was collected by parental questionnaire.

[Validation and subjective reports of exposure to traffic by traffic count, NO2 dispersion modeling and measuring NO2 emissions].

Objectives: The validity of self-reports of traffic density on street of residence in cities has not been evaluated extensively yet.

Methods: This study compared traffic self-reports with exposure estimates based on traffic counts and emission measurements.

Results: Self-reports correlated well with traffic count data but less well with data from measurements of background emission.