[House dust mite allergy--how to win?].

Manifestations of house dust mite allergy include perennial allergic rhinitis often accompanied by ocular symptoms, allergic asthma, and somewhat rarer atopic dermatitis. Sensitization to mite tropomyosin may lead to hypersensitivity to certain foodstuffs. Allergic sensitization and development of the disease are connected to the level of allergen exposure, indicating that the patients' home exposure to mite allergens is a useful indicator of their risk.

[House dust mite allergy--living with the invisible roommates].

House dust mites are the most common sources of allergic sensitization, primarily responsible for the occurrence of various clinical forms of respiratory and skin allergies, but also of certain forms of food allergy. There are many various mite species, of which only a small number are constantly or occasionally found in house dust samples. Mites from Pyroglyphidae family, Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus and Dermatophagoides farinae are most frequently responsible for sensitization of susceptible persons.

[The high-affinity IgE-receptor signaling pathway in the treatment of allergies].

The rise in a prevalence of allergic diseases observed in industrialized countries over many years, and generally a rising number of the patients, require constant searching for newer and better ways of treatment. The central event in the formation of the allergic inflammation, the activation of mast cells and basophils, is mediated by signaling through the high-affinity IgE receptor, FcepsilonRI. The signaling starts by cross-linking of receptor-bound IgE with an allergen.

[Pathophysiological mechanisms of allergic disease occurrence and treatment].

Why the exposure to the harmless and ubiquitous environmental substances causes inappropriately strong reactions of the immune system clinically manifested as allergies in some people, and how repeated exposures to the same substances during the specific immunotherapy divert immunologic reactivity, are so far only partially answered questions. The events that occur during the allergic inflammatory response are relatively well-known, as are the major operative mechanisms through which the specific immunotherapy, the only causative treatment method, changes that response. Nevertheless, everyday new findings are completing the puzzle and our understanding of these complex processes.

House dust mite-specific immunotherapy alters the basal expression of T regulatory and FcεRI pathway genes.

Background: Regulatory T (Treg) cells and IgE-mediated signaling pathways could play important roles in the induction of allergen tolerance during house dust mite-specific subcutaneous immunotherapy (HDM-SCIT). Our aim was to compare the basal expression levels of Treg, T helper 1 (Th1) and Th2 transcription factors and components involved in IgE-mediated signaling in healthy subjects with those in HDM-allergic patients both untreated and successfully treated with HDM-SCIT.

Methods: Thirty-nine HDM-allergic patients who completed a 3- to 5-year course of mite extract SCIT, 20 mite-allergic controls and 25 healthy controls participated in this study.

Allergic diseases in relationship with environmental factors in a population of school children in Zagreb, Croatia.

Most scientists believe that increasing number of people with allergic diseases may be connected with some aspects of the "Western lifestyle". This paper discusses data obtained from questionnaires originally designed by the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) Steering Committee concerning exposure to different environmental factors. The study included 1047 children.