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Asthma is a severe and chronic disabling disease affecting more than 300 million people worldwide. Although in the past few drugs for the treatment of asthma were available, new treatment options are currently emerging, which appear to be highly effective in certain subgroups of patients. Accordingly, there is a need for biomarkers that allow selection of patients for refined and personalized treatment strategies. Recently, serological chip tests based on microarrayed allergen molecules and peptides derived from the most common rhinovirus strains have been developed, which may discriminate 2 of the most common forms of asthma, that is, allergen- and virus-triggered asthma. In this perspective, we argue that classification of patients with asthma according to these common trigger factors may open new possibilities for personalized management of asthma., La lista completa de autores que integran el documento puede consultarse en el archivo., Facultad de Ciencias Exactas

Background: Google Trends (GT) searches trends of specific queries in Google, which potentially reflect the real-life epidemiology of allergic rhinitis. We compared GT terms related to ragweed pollen allergy in American and European Union countries with a known ragweed pollen season. Our aim was to assess seasonality and the terms needed to perform the GT searches and to compare these during the spring and summer pollen seasons. Methods: We examined GT queries from January 1, 2011, to January 4, 2017. We included 15 countries with a known ragweed pollen season and used the standard 5-year GT graphs. We used the GT translation for all countries and the untranslated native terms for each country. Results: The results of “pollen,” “ragweed,” and “allergy” searches differed between countries, but “ragweed” was clearly identified in 12 of the 15 countries. There was considerable heterogeneity of findings when the GT translation was used. For Croatia, Hungary, Romania, Serbia, and Slovenia, the GT translation was inappropriate. The country patterns of “pollen,” “hay fever,” and “allergy” differed in 8 of the 11 countries with identified “ragweed” queries during the spring and the summer, indicating that the perception of tree and grass pollen allergy differs from that of ragweed pollen. Conclusions: To investigate ragweed pollen allergy using GT, the term “ragweed” as a plant is required and the translation of “ragweed” in the native language needed.

Background: N-linked glycans present in venoms, pollen and mites are recognized by IgE antibodies from more than 20% of allergic patients but have low or no allergenic activity. Objectives: To engineer recombinant glycoproteins resembling carbohydrate-specific IgE epitopes from venoms, pollen and mites which can discriminate carbohydrate-specific IgE from allergenic, peptide-specific IgE. Methods: One or two N-glycosylation sites were engineered into the N-terminus of the non-allergenic protein horse heart myoglobin (HHM) using synthetic gene technology. HHM 1 and HHM 2 containing one or two N-glycosylation sites were expressed in baculovirus-infected High-FiveTM insect cells and a non-glycosylated version (HHM 0) was obtained by mutating the glycosylation motif. Recombinant HHM proteins were analyzed regarding fold and aggregation by circular dichroism and gel filtration, respectively. IgE reactivity was assessed by ELISA, immunoblotting and quantitative ImmunoCAP measurements. IgE inhibition assays were performed to study cross-reactivity with venom, plant and mite-derived carbohydrate IgE epitopes. Results: HHM-glycovariants were expressed and purified from insect cells as monomeric and folded proteins. The HHM-glycovariants exhibited strictly carbohydrate-specific IgE reactivity, designed to quantify carbohydrate-specific IgE and resembled IgE epitopes of pollen, venom and mite-derived carbohydrates. IgE-reactivity and inhibition experiments established a hierarchy of plant glcyoallergens (nPhl p 4>nCyn d 1>nPla a 2>nJug r 2>nCup a 1>nCry j 1) indicating a hitherto unknown heterogeneity of carbohydrate IgE epitopes in plants which were completely represented by HHM 2. Conclusion: Defined recombinant HHM-glycoproteins resembling carbohydrate-specific IgE epitopes from plants, venoms and mites were engineered which made it possible to discriminate carbohydrate- from peptide-specific IgE reactivity. Funding Statement: This study was supported by the grants P26728, F4605, F4604 and DK W1248 from the Austrian Science Fund (FWF). Rudolf Valenta is recipient of a Megagrant of the Government of the Russian Federation, grant number 14.W03.31.0024. Declaration of Interests: Rudolf Valenta has received research grants from Biomay AG, Vienna, Austria and Viravaxx, Vienna, Austria. He serves as a consultant for Biomay AG and Viravaxx. Dr. Lupinek reports personal fees from Thermo Fisher Scientific, outside the submitted work. All other authors have nothing to disclose. Ethics Approval Statement: The anonymized analysis of the sera was approved by the ethical committee of the Medical University of Vienna (EK1641/2014).

Adverse reactions to food which occur only in susceptible individuals may result from true physical hypersensitivity to components of foods or from psychological factors. Non-allergic food hypersensitivity may be due to a metabolic defect in the affected individual, while in food allergy immune mechanism is involved. Food allergy can be further subdivided into IgE-mediated food allergy and non-IgE-mediated food allergy, depending on the underlying allergic mechanism. Most cases of confirmed food allergy involve the production of IgE antibodies and a network of interactions between various cell types and chemical mediators. This type of allergic reaction is known as an IgE-mediated allergy (or a type I hypersensitivity reaction), and it produces immediate symptoms. The most severe form of IgE-mediated allergy is systematic answer known as anaphylaxis that can be fatal in the absence of adequate medical help. Other less severe allergy manifestations are symptoms like swelling, itching, redness and heat in the mouth, gut, skin or respiratory tract. Hypersensitivity to food requires special dietary treatment, but total exclusion of some foods from the diet can be very difficult, because of the wide distribution of some foodstuffs in the diet or their presence as impurities in other foods. It is very important that producers have good systems of control, traceability and labeling of possible presence of food allergens in order to help people with food allergies to conduct their restrictive diets that are in most cases their lifelong treatment. Reakcije na hranu koje se manifestuju samo kod malog broja osetljivih osoba mogu da se podele na reakcije psihološke intolerancije (averzija i sl.) i na reakcije prave fiziološke preosetljivosti na određene namirnice ili sastojke hrane. Reakcije preosetljivosti dalje se klasifikuju na nealergijske reakcije preosetljivosti, koje mogu da budu posledica nepoznatih mehanizama ili metaboličkih abnormalnosti, i alergije na hranu koje su injicirane imunološkim mehanizmima. Najveći broj potvrđenih alergija na hranu uključuje produkciju IgE antitela i lanac interakcija između određenih tipova ćelija i hemijskih medijatora. Ova vrsta alergijskih reakcija označava se kao IgE-posredovana alergija ili reakcija preosetljivosti tipa I. Simptomi se javljaju vrlo brzo nakon unošenja određene namirnice, a najopasniji, ali na sreću vrlo redak, jeste sistemski odgovor (anafilaksa) koji može da ima fatalni ishod ukoliko se u kratkom roku ne pruži odgovarajuća medicinska pomoć. Simptomi alergije na hranu mogu da budu gastrointestinalni (otok usana i grla, mučnina, povraćanje, abdominalni bolovi, dijareja i dr.), respiratorni (bronhospazam, astma, rinitis) i dermatološki (svrab, eritem, urtikaria, ekcem, konjunktivitis). Preosetljivost na hranu zahteva poseban dijetalni tretman. Restriktivne dijete mogu biti relativno lake za sprovođenje ukoliko se radi o alergenima koji nisu prisutni u velikom broju namirnica npr. preosetljivost na kikiriki ili susam. Međutim, neke od njih, kao što je dijeta bez glutena veoma su teško sprovodljive zbog velikog broja namirnica koje mogu da sadrže gluten žitarica, bilo kao sastojak ili kao onečišćenje. Zbog toga je važno da proizvođači namirnica imaju dobre sisteme kontrole i sledljivosti i da pravilno označe moguće prisustvo potencijalnih alergena kako bi pomogli preosetljivim osobama u striktnom sprovođenju restriktivnih dijeta, koje su često i njihov doživotni tretman.

Canine atopic dermatitis (CAD) is one of the most common skin diseases of dogs. It is estimated that 10-15% of the dogs are showing clinical symptoms of this disease. Canine atopic dermatitis is defi ned as genetically predisposed infl ammatory and pruritic allergic skin disease with characteristic clinical symptoms. It is related to the production of IgE antibodies, mostly directed against external allergens. Allergens that can cause canine atopic dermatitis are quite numerous and depend on the geographical characteristics of research location. Th e aim of the study is to determine the most common allergens that can cause canine atopic dermatitis. Th e research was conducted according to medical records of 100 dogs during a period from the beginning of 2008 to the end of 2012 from the Department for skin diseases of small animals of the Clinic of equine, small animal, poultry and wild animal diseases at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Belgrade. According to the clinical documentation, all of the tested dogs had clinically manifested symptoms of CAD. In order to confi rm the diagnosis and detect the causative allergens, intradermal testing has been done. Th is testing has been performed with a standard set of 24 allergens specifi c to the geographical area of the research, produced in the Institute of Virology, Vaccines and Sera “Torlak”. According to the results, the highest percentage of positive responses was established for the following allergens: house dust mites (Dermatophagoides sp.) 67%, ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia) 61%, household dust 60%, cocks foot (Dactylis sp.) 59%, mix of weed pollen 57%. Atopični dermatitis pasa (ADP) je jedno od najčešćih oboljenja pasa. Procenjuje se da 10 do 15% pasa ispoljava kliničke simptome bolesti. Atopični dermatitis pasa se defi niše kao genetički predisponirajuće oboljenje koje prati infl amatorni tok i alergijski svrab. Oboljenje nastaje zbog produkcije IgE antitela usmerenih na alergene iz spoljne sredine. Postoje mnogobrojni alergeni koji uzorkuju atopični dermatitis kod pasa zavisno od geografskih karakteristika lokacija koje se istražuju. Cilj studije je bio da se utvrdi koji su najčešći alergeni koji uzorkuju atopični dermatitis. Istraživanje je urađeno prema medicinskim protkolima za 100 pasa u period od početka 2008 do kraja 2012 godine iz ambulante za oboljenja kože Departmana za bolesti kopitara mesojeda, živine i divljači, na Faklutetu veterinarske medicine, Univerziteta u Beogradu. Prema kliničkoj dokumentaciji, svi testirani psi su imali kliničke manifestacije koje upoućuju na ADP. Kako bi potvrdili dijagnozu i detektovali uzročne alergene, potrebno je da se uradi intradermalni test. Navedeni test je urađen sa standardnim setom od 24 poznata alergena koji su specifi čni za geografsku oblast istraživanja, a proizvedeni su u Institutu za virusologiju, vakcine i serume “Torlak”. Na osnovu dobijenih rezultata ustvrđeno je da je najčešći procenat pozitivnih odgovora dobijen kod sledećih alergena: grinja iz kućne prašine (Dermatophagoides sp.) 67%, ambrozije (Ambrosia artemisiifolia) 61%, kućne prašine 60%, mačije trave (Dactylis sp.) 59%, mešavine polena 57%.

Uvod: Propolis, smolasta tvar koju proizvode pčele, uporablja se u narodnoj medicini više od dvije tisuće godina. No, njegovi mnogobrojni sastojci mogu djelovati kao potencijalni antigen. Topikalna primjena može uzrokovati nuspojave u usnoj šupljini. Materijali i metode: Retrospektivnom studijom bili su obuhvaćeni pacijenti s oralnim lezijama zbog topikalne uporabe propolisa. Pritom su korišteni podaci iz medicinske dokumentacije pacijenata: izgled i lokalizacija lezija, kada su se pojavili simptomi, terapija i vrijeme cijeljenja te osnovni demografski podaci (dob, spol). Rezultati: Sudjelovalo je dvadeset dvoje pacijenata s lezijama uzrokovanima korištenjem propolisa. Najčešća klinička slika bila je erozivni stomatitis. Simptomi su se obično pojavljivali dva i pol dana nakon uporabe propolisa, iako su se neke lezije pojavile odmah. Većina pacijenata (21/22) uspješno je liječena topikalnim kortikosteroidima. Šestero je bilo podvrgnuto alergološkom testiranju – troje je bile pozitivno, a troje negativno. Zaključak: Topikalni preparati propolisa mogu prouzročiti teške oralne nuspojave. Dosadašnje spoznaje ne podupiru njegovu široku primjenu u terapiji bolesti usta., Objectives: Propolis, a resinous substance produced by bees, has been used in popular medicine for more than 2000 years. Material and methods: Numerous compounds of propolis can act as potent sensitizers. Topical application of propolis can induce oral lesions. Patients with oral lesions due to topical propolis are presented. Basic demographic (age, gender) and clinical data (appearance and localization of the lesions, symptoms onset, treatment and healing time) were recorded. Results: Twenty two patients with propolis-induced lesions were evaluated. The most common occurring presentation was erosive stomatitis. Symptoms tended to appear 2.5 days after propolis use although some lesions occurred immediately after utilization. Majority of patients (21/22) were successfully treated with topical corticosteroids. Six patients underwent patch testing, 3 patients were positive and 3 were negative. Conclusion: Topical propolis can have serious oral side effects. Current knowledge does not support its widespread use in the treatment of oral diseases.