Chronic mucocutaneous candidiasis in a 6-year-old boy.

Chronic mucocutaneous candidiasis (CMC) is a complex disorder characterized by persistent or recurrent candidal infections of the skin, nails and/or mucous membranes. A familial occurrence has been reported in some instances, suggesting a genetic predisposition. CMC has also been suggested to be associated with a selective defect in T cell-mediated immunity to Candida antigens.

Evaluation of clinical and immunological effects of inactivated influenza vaccine in children with asthma.

Although annual influenza vaccinations are recommended by many authorities, some doctors may be reluctant to vaccinate asthmatic children because of the risk of inducing bronchial reactivity and exacerbating the asthma. In this study, the effect of split influenza vaccine on clinical symptoms, airway responsiveness and its influence on T lymphocytes was evaluated. Twenty-one asthmatic children with stable asthma were recruited and divided into two groups.

TH1 and TH2 cytokine production among asthmatic children after immunotherapy.

Allergen immunotherapy results in a number of changes in clinical and immunological parameters. To study the kinetic influence of immunotherapy on cytokine production, we evaluated the ratios of Th1/Th2 for patients receiving mite-extract immunotherapy with 3-month intervals. Changes in Th1/Th2 ratio were calculated based on the intracellular cytokine and surface CD4 staining of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC).

The RANTES promoter polymorphism: a genetic risk factor for near-fatal asthma in Chinese children.

Background: RANTES promoter polymorphisms were found associated with asthma/atopy in some studies but not others, possibly reflecting the genetic heterogeneity among different ethnicities and different asthma severity.

Objective: The purpose of this investigation was to test the genetic association between the RANTES -28C/G and -403G/A polymorphisms and asthma/atopy in a cohort of Chinese children, with particular emphasis on those patients who had experienced life-threatening asthma attacks.

Methods: Forty-eight children with near-fatal asthma, 134 children with mild-to-moderate asthma, 69 children with allergic disorders but no asthma, and 107 nonasthmatic nonatopic control children were genotyped through use of a PCR-based assay.

Concomitant chronic sinusitis treatment in children with mild asthma: the effect on bronchial hyperresponsiveness.

Study Objective: Previous studies have suggested that aggressive treatment of sinusitis can decrease bronchial hyperresponsiveness (BHR). However, there is still too little evidence to draw this conclusion, and the concept remains controversial.

Design: A prospective, open-label study.

Reduced expression of CD69 and adhesion molecules of T lymphocytes in asthmatic children receiving immunotherapy.

T lymphocytes play a fundamental role in the initiation and regulation of chronic inflammatory responses in patients with asthma. CD69 is an early marker of T-cell activation. The levels of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1, CD54) and L-selectin have been reported to increase in patients with allergic diseases and asthma.

Intranasal gene transfer by chitosan-DNA nanospheres protects BALB/c mice against acute respiratory syncytial virus infection.

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection is often associated in infancy with life-threatening bronchiolitis, which is also a major risk factor for the development of asthma. At present, no effective prophylaxis is available against RSV infection. Herein, we describe an effective prophylactic intranasal gene transfer strategy utilizing chitosan-DNA nanospheres (IGT), containing a cocktail of plasmid DNAs encoding all RSV antigens, except L.