Toll-like receptor 7/8 agonists stimulate plasmacytoid dendritic cells to initiate T17-deviated acute contact dermatitis in human subjects.

Background: A standardized human model to study early pathogenic events in patients with psoriasis is missing. Activation of Toll-like receptor 7/8 by means of topical application of imiquimod is the most commonly used mouse model of psoriasis.

Objective: We sought to investigate the potential of a human imiquimod patch test model to resemble human psoriasis.

EUFOREA Rhinology Research Forum 2016: report of the brainstorming sessions on needs and priorities in rhinitis and rhinosinusitis.

The first European Rhinology Research Forum organized by the European Forum for Research and Education in Allergy and Airway Diseases (EUFOREA) was held in the Royal Academy of Medicine in Brussels on 17th and 18th November 2016, in collaboration with the European Rhinologic Society (ERS) and the Global Allergy and Asthma European Network (GA2LEN). One hundred and thirty participants (medical doctors from different specialties, researchers, as well as patients and industry representatives) from 27 countries took part in the multiple perspective discussions including brainstorming sessions on care pathways and research needs in rhinitis and rhinosinusitis. The debates started with an overview of the current state of the art, including weaknesses and strengths of the current practices, followed by the identification of essential research needs, thoroughly integrated in the context of Precision Medicine (PM), with personalized care, prediction of success of treatment, participation of the patient and prevention of disease as key principles for improving current clinical practices.

Clinical use of adjuvants in allergen-immunotherapy.

Allergen-specific Immunotherapy (AIT) is the only available treatment aimed to tackle the underlying causes of allergy. The active components of subcutaneous vaccines traditionally consist of natural or modified allergen extracts which can be combined with adjuvant platforms. In recent years new targets have been further developed in an attempt to raise the safety and efficacy profile of AIT.

Heterozygous STAT1 gain-of-function mutations underlie an unexpectedly broad clinical phenotype.

Since their discovery in patients with autosomal dominant (AD) chronic mucocutaneous candidiasis (CMC) in 2011, heterozygous STAT1 gain-of-function (GOF) mutations have increasingly been identified worldwide. The clinical spectrum associated with them needed to be delineated. We enrolled 274 patients from 167 kindreds originating from 40 countries from 5 continents.

Potential health risk of allergenic pollen with climate change associated spreading capacity: Ragweed and olive sensitization in two German federal states.

Background: Global climate changes may influence the geographical spread of allergenic plants thus causing new allergen challenges.

Objective: Allergy patients from two German federal states were compared for their status quo sensitization to ragweed, an establishing allergen, olive, a non-established allergen, and the native allergens birch, mugwort, and ash.

Methods: Between 2011 and 2013, 476 adult allergy patients per region were recruited.

Airway inflammation in children and adolescents with bronchiolitis obliterans.

Background: Airway inflammation plays a major role in the progression of chronic lung diseases. The features of airway inflammation are not well defined among patients with cases of bronchiolitis obliterans (BO) that began in childhood.

Objectives: To investigate the sputum cell and cytokine profiles of stable cases of BO regarding lung function and the involvement of small airway disease (SAD).

IgE recognition of chimeric isoforms of the honeybee (Apis mellifera) venom allergen Api m 10 evaluated by protein array technology.

Api m 10 has recently been established as novel major allergen that is recognized by more than 60% of honeybee venom (HBV) allergic patients. Previous studies suggest Api m 10 protein heterogeneity which may have implications for diagnosis and immunotherapy of HBV allergy. In the present study, RT-PCR revealed the expression of at least nine additional Api m 10 transcript isoforms by the venom glands.