The efficacy and safety of fluticasone/salmeterol compared to fluticasone in children younger than four years of age.

Background: Fluticasone propionate 50 μg/salmeterol xinafoate 25 μg (FP/SAL) is widely used in adults and children with asthma, but there is sparse information on its use in very young children.

Methods: This was a randomized, double-blind, multicentre, controlled trial conducted in children aged 8 months to 4 years. During a 2-week run-in period, they all received FP twice daily.

Pranlukast reduces asthma exacerbations during autumn especially in 1- to 5-year-old boys.

Background: Leukotriene receptor antagonists have been used to prevent virus-induced asthma exacerbations in autumn. Its efficacy, however, might differ with age and sex.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate whether pranlukast added to usual asthma therapy in Japanese children during autumn, season associated with the peak of asthma, reduces asthma exacerbations.

Bacterial colonization in respiratory secretions from acute and recurrent wheezing infants and children.

Lower respiratory tract infection in childhood often results in airway obstruction, characterized by wheezing. However, contribution of bacterial colonization to the wheezy state in children remains unclear. Wheezing and non-wheezing children requiring hospitalization were classified into three groups: (i) wheezing children having a past history of recurrent wheezing; (ii) wheezing children without such history; and (iii) non-wheezing children as control subjects.

Age and sex as factors of response to RSV infections among those with previous history of wheezing.

Although enhanced immune reaction caused by the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in allergen-sensitized animal model has been reported, RSV illnesses in children already sensitized or having recurrent wheezing episodes have not been completely studied. In addition, the reason for male dominances in RSV infection at young ages was also inconclusive. Therefore, gender analysis in recurrent wheezing children with RSV infection can shed light on asthma pathogenesis.

Gender analysis in acute bronchiolitis due to respiratory syncytial virus.

It is reasonable to compare immune reactions between boys and girls because many infections in the early stages are predominant in males. A relationship between immunomodulatory effects of sex hormone surge in boys at early months and infectious diseases is still unclear. We compared clinical features between boys and girls who suffered from wheezing that was initially triggered by acute respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) bronchiolitis.

Changes in Histamine/Tryptase Levels in Skin Chambers: Application for Clinical Evaluation of Atopic Dermatitis.

We measured changes in histamine and tryptase levels in fluid of children with atopic dermatitis using skin chamber methods and evaluated the correlation with clinical symptoms. Skin chambers were applied to forearm skin which had been scratched with a needle, and an extract of Dermatophagoides farinae (mite antigen) at 50 μg/ml in saline was added through 0.3-μm filters as a challenge.