LuLIPLEX: A Fast, Highly Sensitive, and Multiplexed Method for the Detection of IgE Against Major Allergens.

Background: Diagnosis of allergies is mostly based on the patient's clinical history and allergen provocation tests. Determination of specific IgE (sIgE) profiles can be performed to support allergy diagnosis. This is commonly done in vivo by the skin prick test or in vitro with automated systems.

NOVEOS and ImmunoCAP Have Similar Performances for Diagnosing Food Allergies.

Background: The clinical significance of newly available platforms for specific IgE measurement must be evaluated. However, data are lacking for NOVEOS (Hycor), especially for food allergens.

Objective: We compared the technical and clinical performance of two platforms (ImmunoCAP and NOVEOS) to measure specific IgE to 10 food allergens.

Monocytes are the main source of STING-mediated IFN-α production.

Background: Type I interferon (IFN-I) production by plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) occurs during viral infection, in response to Toll-like receptor 7 (TLR7) stimulation and is more vigorous in females than in males. Whether this sex bias persists in ageing people is currently unknown. In this study, we investigated the effect of sex and aging on IFN-α production induced by PRR agonist ligands.

Hydroxychloroquine as a novel therapeutic approach in mast cell activation diseases.

There is no therapeutic agent approved in cutaneous mastocytosis and mast cell activation syndrome. We report the efficacy of hydroxychloroquine in four patients with cutaneous mastocytosis (n = 2) and mast cell activation syndrome (n = 2). We show that this molecule reduces the long-term survival of primary human mast cells, interferes with lysosome function and leads to the accumulation of non-functional tryptase in the mast cell granules.

Photo-induced graft-versus-host disease.

Overlap chronic graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) associates both features of acute and chronic GVHD. Trigger factors for chronic GVHD are unclear. We describe two patients who received allogenic haematopoietic stem-cell transplantation, and who later developed overlap chronic GVHD after sun exposure.

Telangiectasia macularis eruptiva perstans (TMEP): A form of cutaneous mastocytosis with potential systemic involvement.

Background: Telangiectasia macularis eruptiva perstans (TMEP) has not been fully characterized.

Objective: We sought to estimate the frequency and clinical characteristics of TMEP in a cohort of adult patients with cutaneous mastocytosis, and to assess the presence of systemic involvement.

Methods: We included all consecutive patients evaluated for cutaneous mastocytosis in 2 centers: the Mastocytosis Competence Center of the Midi-Pyrénées from May 2006 to December 2013, and the French Reference Center for Mastocytosis from January 2008 to September 2013.

FOXP3 mRNA levels are decreased in peripheral blood CD4+ lymphocytes from HIV-positive patients.

The impact of HIV infection on regulatory CD4(+)CD25(high) (Treg) lymphocyte subpopulations was evaluated by FOXP3 quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction and by flow cytometry. FOXP3 mRNA was quantified in peripheral blood mononuclear cells or purified CD4(+) lymphocytes from HIV(+) lymphopenic patients. Patients were distributed among clinical stages A, B, and C and received highly active antiretroviral therapy.

Sequence, evolution and ligand binding properties of mammalian Duffy antigen/receptor for chemokines.

The Duffy antigen/ receptor for chemokine, DARC, acts as a widely expressed promiscuous chemokine receptor and as the erythrocyte receptor for Plasmodium vivax. To gain insight into the evolution and structure/function relations of DARC, we analyzed the binding of anti-human Fy monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) and human chemokines to red blood cells (RBCs) from 11 nonhuman primates and two nonprimate mammals, and we elucidated the structures of the DARC genes from gorilla, gibbon, baboon, marmoset, tamarin, night monkey and cattle. CXCL-8 and CCL-5 chemokine binding analysis indicated that the promiscuous binding profile characteristic of DARC is conserved across species.