Publications by authors named "Mihaela Zidarn"

venom allergy (HVA) is an IgE-mediated hypersensitivity reaction caused by species stings (honeybee, vespid, or ant). The only effective treatment is venom immunotherapy (VIT). Our study aimed to evaluate whether humoral and cellular biomarkers measured before, during, and after honeybee VIT are associated with the success of VIT, which was assessed by the response to a sting challenge one year after finishing VIT.

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Background: Beekeeping plays crucial natural and economic roles but also poses health risks, as bee stings can cause severe allergic reactions like anaphylaxis, a potentially life-threatening condition that requires timely intervention. Understanding symptoms and the proper use of adrenaline autoinjectors is essential to minimize risks. This study aimed to assess the need for education on anaphylaxis and to develop a health education program to enhance beekeepers' preparedness and safety.

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Chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) is associated with skin mast cell activation, and its triggering mechanisms are not completely elucidated. Evidence suggests an autoimmune component of CSU. Our aim was to assess the usefulness of an autoimmune mast cell activation test (aiMAT) for diagnosing and differentiating CSU into different subtypes.

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Article Synopsis
  • - The traditional healthcare approach often overlooks patients' personal experiences and strengths, focusing mainly on disease treatment. Person-centered care aims to align medical decisions with individual values and preferences, particularly for those with chronic conditions.
  • - This paper seeks to enhance care for rhinitis and asthma by developing digital care pathways and incorporating real-world evidence to create a more patient-centered approach.
  • - Key components of the review include advancements in mHealth, the integration of artificial intelligence, a novel classification system for airway diseases, and proposals for the ARIA 2024 guidelines, all targeting a sustainable and applicable healthcare model.
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The delivery of vaccines plays a pivotal role in influencing the strength and longevity of the immune response and controlling reactogenicity. Mucosal immunization, as compared to parenteral vaccination, could offer greater protection against respiratory infections while being less invasive. While oral vaccination has been presumed less effective and believed to target mainly the gastrointestinal tract, trans-buccal delivery using mucoadhesive films (MAF) may allow targeted delivery to the mucosa.

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Hereditary angioedema due to C1 inhibitor deficiency (HAE-C1-INH) is a rare genetic disorder caused by pathogenic variants in the SERPING1 gene and characterised by swelling and a highly variable clinical phenotype. We aimed to identify novel modifying genetic factors predisposing to the clinical symptoms. We performed whole exome sequencing (WES) and comprehensive bioinformatic analysis in symptomatic and asymptomatic (three duos) family members with HAE-C1-INH.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study investigates the molecular mechanisms behind allergen-specific venom immunotherapy (VIT) for venom allergy, focusing on 19 patients and comparing them with 9 healthy controls.
  • Longitudinal RNA sequencing revealed that VIT’s effectiveness is linked to the suppression of key pathways, such as NFκB, Th2, and Th17, contributing to immune tolerance.
  • Successful treatment was shown to restore the immune system’s balance, resembling that of healthy individuals, highlighting the potential for specific biomarkers to predict VIT effectiveness.
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  • Some people who have bad reactions to insect stings might have a problem with their mast cells, which can make their reactions worse and affect their treatment.
  • A study looked at 1,319 people who needed treatment for bee or wasp stings and found that 21.6% had a specific marker (KIT p.D816V) that showed their mast cells were acting up, especially in those with severe reactions.
  • The research also showed that having this marker along with another condition (HαT) made it even more likely for someone to have very bad reactions, highlighting the importance of testing and understanding these conditions for better treatment.
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  • The EQ-5D-5L is a health-related quality-of-life tool with five domains, and this study investigates how rhinitis and asthma control affect these domains.
  • Data from the MASK-air mHealth app (2015-2021) was used to evaluate the relationship between rhinitis/asthma control and EQ-5D-5L levels through visual analog scales and a symptom-medication score.
  • Findings reveal that poor control of rhinitis and asthma worsens quality of life, particularly in pain/discomfort, activity levels, anxiety/depression, and mobility.
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Biomarkers for the diagnosis, treatment and follow-up of patients with rhinitis and/or asthma are urgently needed. Although some biologic biomarkers exist in specialist care for asthma, they cannot be largely used in primary care. There are no validated biomarkers in rhinitis or allergen immunotherapy (AIT) that can be used in clinical practice.

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MASK-air , a validated mHealth app (Medical Device regulation Class IIa) has enabled large observational implementation studies in over 58,000 people with allergic rhinitis and/or asthma. It can help to address unmet patient needs in rhinitis and asthma care. MASK-air is a Good Practice of DG Santé on digitally-enabled, patient-centred care.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study aimed to establish cutoff values for visual analog scales (VAS) related to global, nasal, ocular, and asthma symptoms in allergic rhinitis patients using MASK-air data.
  • The researchers compared methods based on percentiles and data-driven clusters, analyzing data from over 23,000 users and assessing the relevance of these cutoffs.
  • Results indicated that the data-driven approach provided more precise cutoff values for classifying patients' control levels, aiding in better management of allergic rhinitis and asthma.
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Digital health is an umbrella term which encompasses eHealth and benefits from areas such as advanced computer sciences. eHealth includes mHealth apps, which offer the potential to redesign aspects of healthcare delivery. The capacity of apps to collect large amounts of longitudinal, real-time, real-world data enables the progression of biomedical knowledge.

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Background: As of writing, there are no publications pertaining to the prediction of COVID-19-related outcomes and length of stay in patients from Slovene hospitals.

Objectives: To evaluate the length of regular ward and ICU stays and assess the survival of COVID-19 patients to develop better prediction models to forecast hospital capacity and staffing demands in possible further pandemic peaks.

Methods: In this retrospective, single-site study we analysed the length of stay and survival of all patients, hospitalized due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) at the peak of the second wave, between November 18th 2020 and January 27th 2021 at the University Clinic Golnik, Slovenia.

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Background: Monitoring allergic rhinitis (AR) severity with objective biomarkers is important for the clinical management of patients as well as for research purposes. The most commonly used tool for the assessment of AR severity is the Total Nasal Symptom Score (TNSS). Objective biomarkers like skin prick test size or specific IgE levels do not correlate with TNSS.

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Introduction: Data from mHealth apps can provide valuable information on rhinitis control and treatment patterns. However, in MASK-air®, these data have only been analyzed cross-sectionally, without considering the changes of symptoms over time. We analyzed data from MASK-air® longitudinally, clustering weeks according to reported rhinitis symptoms.

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Background: Several studies have suggested an impact of allergic rhinitis on academic productivity. However, large studies with real-world data (RWD) are not available.

Objective: To use RWD to assess the impact of allergic rhinitis on academic performance (measured through a visual analog scale [VAS] education and the Work Productivity and Activity Impairment Questionnaire plus Classroom Impairment Questions: Allergy Specific [WPAI+CIQ:AS] questionnaire), and to identify factors associated with the impact of allergic rhinitis on academic performance.

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Drug repurposing is a major field of value-added medicine. It involves investigating and evaluating existing drugs for new therapeutic purposes that address unmet healthcare needs. Several unmet needs in allergic rhinitis could be improved by drug repurposing.

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Background: The European baseline series (EBS) of contact allergens is subject to change. An allergen is considered for inclusion when routine patch testing of patients with suspected contact dermatitis results in ≥0.5% prevalence rate.

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Background: Different treatments exist for allergic rhinitis (AR), including pharmacotherapy and allergen immunotherapy (AIT), but they have not been compared using direct patient data (i.e., "real-world data").

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Background: Evidence regarding the effectiveness of allergen immunotherapy (AIT) on allergic rhinitis has been provided mostly by randomised controlled trials, with little data from real-life studies.

Objective: To compare the reported control of allergic rhinitis symptoms in three groups of users of the MASK-air app: those receiving sublingual AIT (SLIT), those receiving subcutaneous AIT (SCIT), and those receiving no AIT.

Methods: We assessed the MASK-air data of European users with self-reported grass pollen allergy, comparing the data reported by patients receiving SLIT, SCIT and no AIT.

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Background: Co-medication is common among patients with allergic rhinitis (AR), but its dimension and patterns are unknown. This is particularly relevant since AR is understood differently across European countries, as reflected by rhinitis-related search patterns in Google Trends. This study aims to assess AR co-medication and its regional patterns in Europe, using real-world data.

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Early diagnosis with rapid detection of the virus plays a key role in preventing the spread of infection and in treating patients effectively. In order to address the need for a straightforward detection of SARS-CoV-2 infection and assessment of viral spread, we developed rapid, sensitive, extraction-free one-step reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) tests for detecting SARS-CoV-2 in saliva. We analyzed over 700 matched pairs of saliva and nasopharyngeal swab (NSB) specimens from asymptomatic and symptomatic individuals.

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venom allergy is one of the most severe allergic diseases, with a considerable prevalence of anaphylactic reaction, making it potentially lethal. In this review, we provide an overview of the current knowledge and recent findings in understanding induced immune mechanisms during different phases of venom immunotherapy. We focus on protection mechanisms that occur early, during the build-up phase, and on the immune tolerance, which occurs later, during and after venom immunotherapy.

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