Effect of a bed covering system in children with asthma and house dust mite hypersensitivity.

Allergen avoidance is regarded as an important approach to management of atopic asthma. The effect of Intervent bed covering systems on house dust mite (HDM) allergen exposure, asthma symptoms and markers of inflammation was investigated in 31 HDM sensitive asthmatic children. Dust concentrations of Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus allergen 1 (Der p 1) were monitored before and after covering the mattress, duvet and pillow with active and placebo covers for 3 months, in a single-blind, cross-over trial.

Effects of levamisole on the immune responses of experimentally malnourished rats.

Levamisole (Ketrax), and anthelmintic drug commonly used in the tropics, has been found to restore the impaired spontaneous rosette-forming lymphocytes and delayed cutaneous hypersensitivity reactions in experimentally malnourished rats. It, however, has no effects on plaque-forming cells. The drug was also found to reconstitute the histologic integrity of the thymus in malnutrition.

Plasma and white blood cell ascorbic acid concentrations in patients with bronchial asthma.

Plasma cholesterol, plasma and white blood cell ascorbic acid concentrations were estimated in 30 untreated, 32 salbutamol-treated patients with bronchial asthma and in 57 normal controls. Treated and untreated asthmatics had significantly higher plasma cholesterol but lower plasma and white cell ascorbic acid levels than normal controls. A negative correlation was found between white cell ascorbic acid level and plasma cholesterol concentration in both treated and untreated asthmatics.

Assessment of nutritional status.

This review is a critical evaluation of the various methods of assessing the nutritional state of a community. Greater emphasis has been placed on the more recently developed and highly sensitive immunochemical and immunobiological methods because biochemical and immunological changes occur long before any anthropometric abnormality can be detected. Of the serum proteins the transferrin level would appear to be the most sensitive (and most practical) index of nutritional state.