The Combination of Binding Avidity of Ovomucoid-Specific IgE Antibody and Specific IgG4 Antibody Can Predict Positive Outcomes of Oral Food Challenges during Stepwise Slow Oral Immunotherapy in Children with Hen's Egg Allergy.

To increase the prediction accuracy of positive oral food challenge (OFC) outcomes during stepwise slow oral immunotherapy (SS-OIT) in children with a hen's egg (HE) allergy, we evaluated the predictive value of the combination of antigen-specific IgE (sIgE) with antigen binding avidity and sIgG4 values. Sixty-three children with HE allergy undergoing SS-OIT were subjected to repeated OFCs with HE. We measured the ovomucoid (OVM)-sIgE by ImmunoCAP or densely carboxylated protein (DCP) microarray, sIgG4 by DCP microarray, and the binding avidity of OVM-sIgE defined as the level of 1/IC (nM) measured by competitive binding inhibition assays.

Author Correction: Oral immunotherapy combined with omalizumab for high-risk cow's milk allergy: a randomized controlled trial.

A correction to this article has been published and is linked from the HTML and PDF versions of this paper. The error has not been fixed in the paper.

Dual Factors May Be Necessary for Development of Atopic March in Early Infancy.

The incidence of atopic diseases, including atopic dermatitis (AD), food allergies, allergic rhinitis, and asthma, has increased in recent decades, and currently affects approximately 20% of the population. Atopic march is the development of AD in infancy and subsequent food allergies, allergic rhinitis, and asthma in later childhood. Patients with infantile eczema may develop typical symptoms of AD, allergic rhinitis, and asthma at certain ages.

Oral immunotherapy combined with omalizumab for high-risk cow's milk allergy: a randomized controlled trial.

We evaluated the efficacy and safety of oral immunotherapy (OIT) combined with 24 weeks of omalizumab (OMB) at inducing desensitization in children with cow's milk allergy (CM) compared with an untreated group. The present study was a prospective randomized controlled trial. Sixteen patients (age, 6-14 years) with high IgE levels to CM were enrolled in the present study.

Long-term safety of subcutaneous immunotherapy with TO-204 in Japanese patients with house dust mite-induced allergic rhinitis and allergic bronchial asthma: Multicenter, open label clinical trial.

Background: To evaluate the long-term safety of subcutaneous immunotherapy with TO-204, a standardized house dust mite (HDM) allergen extracts, we conducted a multicenter, open label clinical trial.

Methods: Japanese patients aged 5-65 years were eligible for the study, if they had HDM-induced allergic rhinitis (AR), allergic bronchial asthma (BA), or both. TO-204 was administered in a dose titration scheme, and the maintenance dose was determined according to the predefined criteria.

Immunotherapy for cow's milk allergy.

Oral immunotherapy (OIT) is used regularly for young children with cow's milk (CM) allergy and has been shown to be effective in several studies. However, adverse events occur frequently during OIT. Furthermore, there are only 5 randomized controlled trial studies of CM-OIT and these are low-powered single center trials.

Degradation and removal of soybean allergen in Japanese soy sauce.

Soy sauce is a traditional fermented seasoning of Japan and is available throughout the world. The two main raw ingredients of soy sauce are soybean and wheat, both of which are established food allergens. The present study examined the degradation and removal of soybean allergens in soy sauce by immunoblotting with anti‑soybean protein antibody from rabbit and sera from two children with soybean allergy.

Erratum to: Two-weeks-sustained unresponsiveness by oral immunotherapy using microwave heated cow's milk for children with cow's milk allergy.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1186/s13223-016-0150-0.].

Two-weeks-sustained unresponsiveness by oral immunotherapy using microwave heated cow's milk for children with cow's milk allergy.

Background: Several studies have reported that oral immunotherapy (OIT) is effective for children with cow's milk (CM) allergy. These studies reported the efficacy of OIT in terms of desensitization, but did not describe sustained unresponsiveness to CM. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of the OIT protocol using microwave heated cow's milk (MH-CM) in terms of 2-weeks-sustained unresponsiveness (2-weeks-SU) and safety.

Successful desensitization in a boy with severe cow's milk allergy by a combination therapy using omalizumab and rush oral immunotherapy.

Background: Rush oral immunotherapy (OIT) combined with omalizumab (OMB) has been reported to be an effective and safe treatment for severe milk allergies. However, no report has described long-term follow-up observations after OMB discontinuation. The purpose of this case report was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of rush OIT in combination with OMB during a long period of treatment.

Home-based oral immunotherapy (OIT) with an intermittent loading protocol in children unlikely to outgrow egg allergy.

Background: Home based oral immunotherapy (OIT) for food allergy has often been used for young children in Japan, the majority of whom are believed to outgrow the allergy by the school age, therefore the true efficacy of the therapy has been controversial. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of a newly developed slow- type home-based oral immunotherapy (OIT) regimen in children with hen's egg (HE) allergy, who had low likelihood of outgrowing the allergy, with treatment involving only elimination diet.

Method: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 43 children with egg allergy (30 males; median age 6) who fulfilled Burks et al.

New efficacy of LTRAs (montelukast sodium): it possibly prevents food-induced abdominal symptoms during oral immunotherapy.

Background: The aim of the study was to elucidate whether leukotriene receptor antagonists (LTRAs) can prevent severe allergic reactions, which occur during oral immunotherapy (OIT) in children with food allergies.

Findings: Five children with food allergies [3 allergic to hen's egg (HE), 1 to wheat, and one to cow's milk (CM); aged between 7 and 12 years; median, 8.5 years] who were started on LTRAs during OIT were retrospectively selected from among 63 children undergoing OIT.

MEFV Variants in Patients with PFAPA Syndrome in Japan.

Background: The pathogenesis of PFAPA (periodic fever, aphthous stomatitis, pharyngitis, adenitis) syndrome is unknown as yet. In order to understand whether genes implicated in other auto-inflammatory diseases might be involved in the pathogenesis of PFAPA, all variants in the genes causing familial Mediterranean fever (FMF), tumor necrosis factor (TNF) receptor-associated periodic syndrome (TRAPS), and Hyper IgD syndrome were analyzed in children with PFAPA.

Patients And Methods: All variants in MEFV, TNFRSF1A, and MVK were analyzed in 20 patients with PFAPA.

Steroid pulse therapy for children with intravenous immunoglobulin therapy-resistant Kawasaki disease: a prospective study.

Patients with Kawasaki disease (KD) who did not respond to the initial IVIG are known to have higher risk for developing coronary arterial lesions (CALs). Our aim is to clarify whether patients with initial IVIG resistant KD may benefit from methylprednisolone pulse therapy (MPT) in comparison with re- treatment of IVIG (2nd IVIG). A total of 237 patients (median age: 2 years 2 months; range 1 months-10 years) with KD were initially treated with IVIG (2 g/kg).

Increased production of nitric oxide by phagocytic stimulated neutrophils in patients with chronic granulomatous disease.

Chronic granulomatous disease (CGD) is an inherited disorder in which phagocytic leukocytes fail to generate superoxide (O(2)(-)) and antimicrobial oxidants. Patients with CGD develop recurrent and often life-threatening infections due to catalase-positive microorganisms. We attempted to measure the production of nitric oxide and reactive oxygen species in polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMNs) from patients with CGD using a flow cytometry technique.

Predictive value of IgE/IgG4 antibody ratio in children with egg allergy.

Background: The aim of this study was to investigate the role of specific IgG4 antibodies to hen's egg white and determine their utility as a marker for the outcome of oral challenge test in children sensitized to hen's egg

Methods: The hen's egg oral food challenge test was performed in 105 sensitized children without atopic dermatitis, and the titers of egg white-specific immunoglobulin G4 (IgG4) and immunoglobulin E (IgE) antibodies were measured. To set the cut-off values of IgG4, IgE, and the IgE/IgG4 ratio for predicting positive results in oral challenges, receiver operating characteristic curves were plotted and the area under the curves (AUC) were calculated.

Results: Sixty-four of 105 oral challenges with whole eggs were assessed as positive.

Diagnosis of autoimmune neutropenia by neutrophil-bound IgG and IgM antibodies.

Autoimmune neutropenia (AIN) in infancy is caused by antineutrophil (granulocyte-specific) autoantibodies. These antibodies are rarely found in circulation because their serum levels are extremely low. We hypothesized that a direct granulocyte immunofluorescence test (D-GIFT) that enables us to detect neutrophil-bound autoantibodies consisting of both immunoglobulin (Ig) G and IgM has better diagnostic value than the detection of circulating autoantibodies.

Two types of orthostatic dysregulation assessed by diameter of inferior vena cava.

Aims: Orthostatic dysregulation (OD) is common in adolescents. This study was conducted to evaluate the usefulness of the measurement of the diameter of the inferior vena cava (IVC) for objective assessment of patients with OD.

Methods: Twenty children with OD (median 14 years, range 9-15 years) and 23 age-matched healthy children (median 12 years, range 10-15 years) were enrolled.

A case of WHIM syndrome associated with diabetes and hypothyroidism.

The WHIM syndrome is a rare immunological disorder characterized by warts, hypogammaglobulinemia, infections, and myelokathexis. We hypothesized that immunological or genetic mechanisms may link WHIM syndrome and type 1 diabetes. We report that the young girl with WHIM syndrome developed diabetes and transient hypothyroidism.

Phagocytosis of heat-killed Staphylococcus aureus by eosinophils: comparison with neutrophils.

Eosinophils are characterized by several functional properties, such as chemotaxis, adhesion, superoxide anion production, and degranulation. In this article, we have studied the role of bacterial ingestion by eosinophils in comparison with that by neutrophils. Eosinophils and neutrophils were purified by using the Percoll gradient method followed by selection with CD16-coated immunomagnetic beads and centrifugation through a Ficoll-Hypaque gradient combined with dextran sedimentation, respectively.

Granulocyte-colony stimulating factor increases donor mesenchymal stem cells in bone marrow and their mobilization into peripheral circulation but does not repair dystrophic heart after bone marrow transplantation.

Background: Hereditary disordered cardiac muscle could be replaced with intact cardiomyocytes derived from genetically intact bone marrow (BM)-derived stem cells.

Methods And Results: Cardiomyopathic mice with targeted mutation of delta-sarcoglycan gene underwent intra-BM-BM transplantation (IBM-BMT) from transgenic mice expressing green fluorescence protein. The host BM and the peripheral blood were completely reconstituted by donor-derived hematopoietic cells by IBM-BMT.

Mechanisms underlying acceleration of blood flow recovery in ischemic limbs by macrophage colony-stimulating factor.

Recently we reported that macrophage colony-stimulating factor (M-CSF) can mobilize endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) from the bone marrow into the peripheral blood, resulting in an increase in the number of blood vessels and augmentation of blood flow in the ischemia-induced legs. M-CSF accelerates neovascularization of ischemic lesions resulting from the mobilization of EPCs. In the present paper, we analyze the mechanisms underling the mobilization of EPCs by M-CSF.