Food allergy epidemiology and racial and/or ethnic differences.

In recent decades, immunoglobulin E (IgE) mediated food allergy has become a growing public health concern. Converging evidence from cross-sectional prevalence studies, health care utilization records, and cohort studies indicate that food allergies are increasingly prevalent and often severe. Although IgE-mediated food allergy has long been considered a predominantly pediatric concern, analysis of recent self-reported data suggests that food allergies may be more prevalent among adult populations than previously acknowledged, with many reported cases of adult-onset allergies as well as persistent childhood-onset allergies.

Lenalidomide Induces Interleukin-21 Production by T Cells and Enhances IL21-Mediated Cytotoxicity in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia B Cells.

The immunomodulatory drug lenalidomide has demonstrated efficacy in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), despite a lack of direct cytotoxic effects in vitro The mechanism of lenalidomide efficacy in vivo is thought to occur via a combination of enhanced immune activity and an alteration of tumor cell-microenvironment interactions. We demonstrate in whole blood from patients with CLL that lenalidomide significantly depletes malignant B cells. Lenalidomide also induced production of interleukin-21 (IL21) and its mRNA in T cells from patients with CLL.

CpG oligodeoxynucleotide CpG-685 upregulates functional interleukin-21 receptor on chronic lymphocytic leukemia B cells through an NF-κB mediated pathway.

CpG oligodeoxynucleotides (ODNs) upregulate the interleukin-21 receptor (IL21R) and enhance IL-21-mediated cytotoxicity in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) B cells. We demonstrate that treatment of CLL B cells with the ODN CpG-685 leads to increased IL21R expression, and that this increased expression enhances the effects of IL-21 treatment as evidenced by increased phosphorylation of JAK1, STAT1, and STAT3, as compared to IL-21 treatment without prior CpG stimulation. Induction of IL21R by CpG-685 also enhanced IL-21-mediated cytotoxicity.

Expression of TCL-1 as a potential prognostic factor for treatment outcome in B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

TCL-1 expression is variable in CLL, and no study has examined its association with treatment response. We measured TCL-1 protein in CLL cells from 51 patients who then received pentostatin, cyclophosphamide, and rituximab. TCL-1 expression did not correlate with any pre-treatment characteristics.