[Clinical efficacy of a herbal drug combination in acute viral rhinosinusitis].

Background: Acute rhinosinusitis is a frequent inflammatory disease of the mucosa of the nose and paranasal sinuses, usually associated with substantial morbidity having considerable socioeconomic impact. A new herbal drug based on a dry extract of a combination of 5 medicinal drugs (Sinupret® extract Dragees) was tested in a confirmatory trial in patients with acute viral rhinosinusitis.

Methods: 386 patients with symptomatic acute viral rhinosinusitis have been treated with the herbal drug combination (daily dosage 3 × 160 mg) or placebo in a double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled clinical trial for 15 days.

Herbal drug BNO 1016 is safe and effective in the treatment of acute viral rhinosinusitis.

Conclusion: Daily intake of 480 mg of BNO 1016 for 15 days is an effective treatment in acute viral rhinosinusitis.

Objectives: The pooled efficacy data of two similar randomized placebo-controlled clinical trials were analyzed. Safety was evaluated on the basis of the individual trials.

Clinical efficacy of a dry extract of five herbal drugs in acute viral rhinosinusitis.

Objective: A herbal drug combination (Dry Extract BNO 1016) has been assessed for efficacy and tolerability in patients with acute viral rhinosinusitis.

Methodology: In this randomised, controlled trial patients with symptom duration of up to 3 days, mild to moderate facial pain and a Major Symptom Score (MSS) between 8 and 12 were treated for 15 days with BNO 1016 or placebo (coated tablets administered orally). Primary efficacy endpoint was mean MSS at end of treatment.

Genes regulating molecular and cellular functions in noninfectious nonallergic rhinitis.

Background: Chronic noninfectious, nonallergic rhinitis (NINAR) is a complex syndrome with a principally unknown pathophysiology. New technology has made it possible to examine differentially expressed genes and according to network theory, genes connected by their function that might have key roles in the disease.

Methods: Connectivity analysis was used to identify NINAR key genes.

Cytokine inhibition after glucocorticoid exposure in healthy men with low versus high basal cortisol levels.

Objective: The balance between glucocorticoid (GC) release and GC sensitivity in target cells is believed to be important to maintain homeostasis in the neuroendocrine control of inflammation. We investigated the impact of in vivo exposure to adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and dexamethasone (DEX) on GC sensitivity measured in vitro in healthy individuals with high versus low baseline cortisol levels.

Methods: 136 healthy male volunteers were screened twice and sorted according to their 24-hour urinary free cortisol (UFC) excretion.

Effects of examination stress on psychological responses, sleep and allergic symptoms in atopic and non-atopic students.

Background: Recent findings indicate that atopics may be more vulnerable to stress than non-atopics. However, the roles of psychological well-being and sleep in this presumed increased sensitivity are not known.

Purpose: To investigate the effects of a brief naturalistic stressor on psychological responses, sleep, and allergic symptoms and to compare those responses between atopic and non-atopic individuals.

Timing-dependent effects of restraint stress on eosinophilic airway inflammation in mice.

Background: Chronic stress has been proposed to aggravate allergic inflammation, whereas acute stress may have functional beneficial effects. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of timing of single short restraint stress (RST) in a model of eosinophilic airway inflammation.

Methods: The airways of ovalbumin (OVA)-sensitized mice were exposed to an intranasal OVA challenge.

Changes in immune regulation in response to examination stress in atopic and healthy individuals.

Background: Stress can aggravate the allergic inflammation, but determinants of disturbed immune regulation are largely unknown.

Objective: To determine systemic immunological, local inflammatory and functional airway responses to stress in healthy and atopic individuals.

Methods: Forty-one undergraduate students, 22 with allergy of whom 16 had asthma, and 19 healthy controls, were studied in a low-stress period and in association with a large exam.

NF-kappaB mediated glucocorticoid response in the inner ear after acoustic trauma.

The inner ear of humans and experimental animals demonstrate an abundance of glucocorticoid receptors (GR). Glucocorticoids (GC) are widely used to treat different hearing disorders; yet the mechanisms of GC action on the inner ear are unknown. We demonstrate how GR can directly modulate hearing sensitivity in response to a moderate acoustic trauma that results in a hearing loss (10-30 dB).

Development and characterization of an animal model of dental sinusitis.

Conclusion: The results of this study confirm that the present rabbit model of dental maxillary sinusitis (dMxS) is reproducible and simulates human dental sinusitis with respect to initiation, progression and inflammation. It is applicable to further studies of sinusitis of odontogenic origin.

Objectives: To induce acute dMxS in rabbits by using their own oral microflora to create a periapical infection and to follow morphological, radiographic, bacteriological and histological changes to the sinus mucosa.

Significance of endogenous glucocorticoid sensitivity for airway eosinophilia in a murine model of allergy.

Conclusions: Endogenous GC protects against allergic inflammatory responses in the airways. These effects are modulated by both peripheral blockade and inhibition of release. Individual response patterns to stress, i.

Sinusitis of odontogenic origin: pathophysiological implications of early treatment.

Although sinusitis is a common condition its pathogenesis is not clearly understood and there is lack of consensus concerning its treatment and prevention. Sinusitis is regarded as being primarily rhinogenous in origin, and oral/dental infections are considered to be predisposing factors. A review of the literature suggests that many cases of recurrent acute sinusitis are due to secondary rhinogenous bacterial colonization of antral mucosa that have been weakened and degenerated by chronic dental infection/inflammation.

Immune response to Mycoplasma pulmonis in nasal mucosa is modulated by the normal microbiota.

The impact of commensal bacteria on lymphocyte responses in the upper airways was studied in rat nasal mucosa after infection with the pathogen Mycoplasma pulmonis. Phenotyping was performed in situ by paired immunofluorescence staining in germ-free (GF) and conventional (CV) rats before and 3 wk after the monoinfection. Intraepithelial lymphocytes had expanded significantly in GF (P = 0.

Structural characteristics of repair tissue of cricoid cartilage defects treated with recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein-2.

We examined the structural characteristics of repair tissue induced by recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein-2 in a rabbit model of laryngotracheal reconstruction. Twenty-four New Zealand White rabbits were randomly divided into four groups of six rabbits. Two groups were treated with recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein-2 delivered on an absorbable collagen sponge, while two groups were used as controls.

ME-609: a treatment for recurrent herpes simplex virus infections.

Studies in conventional murine models of HSV infection use immunologically naive animals. These models thus mimic primary infections rather than recurrent infections in humans. We have, therefore, used a newly developed mouse model that more closely mimics recurrent HSV infection in humans.

Current perspectives on the treatment of nasal polyposis: a Swedish opinion report.

This Swedish study group has examined the current knowledge of nasal polyposis with emphasis on different treatment modalities. Polyposis is a multifactorial disease that exists for decades in the majority of cases. Different types of treatment must be considered, focusing on the underlying disease.

Herpes simplex virus type 1 infection and glucocorticoid treatment regulate viral yield, glucocorticoid receptor and NF-kappaB levels.

The interplay between the endocrine and immune systems has come into focus in recent years with the insight that endocrine parameters may affect susceptibility to both auto-immune and infectious diseases. Our interest in immunoendocrine regulation led us to investigate the effects of glucocorticoids on Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) infections. Glucocorticoids used to treat inflammatory conditions are not yet recommended for HSV-1 therapy, since they have been reported to prolong viral shedding both in vivo and in vitro.

Estrogen receptors alpha and beta in the inner ear of the 'Turner mouse' and an estrogen receptor beta knockout mouse.

Estrogen receptors have earlier been shown in the normal mouse, rat and human inner ear. If estrogens are important in normal hearing and development of presbyacusis in the normal population is not known. However it is known that patients with Turner syndrome, where a lack of estrogens is one of the main characteristics, commonly develop an early presbyacusis.