Clues To The Cause Of Difficulty With Swallowing In Children

Eosinophilic esophagitis (EE) is disease that was first described in children only 20 years ago, but has shown a rising incidence in both children and adults. An inflammatory condition of the esophagus, its symptoms including vomiting, heartburn and difficulty in swallowing.

In findings published on line January 10, 2007 in the Journal of Allergy & Clinical Immunology, researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine and Rady Children’s Hospital and Health Center, San Diego show that the disease causes many of the same kinds of tissue changes seen in pediatric asthma. Their research may lead to new drug targets for EE, which appears to be allergy-driven in some patients.

The esophagus is the soft tube-like portion of the digestive tract that leads from the back of the mouth to the stomach. In patients with EE, the disease leads to scarring and narrowing of the esophagus, so that food can’t readily pass through it.

“We set out to find whether the kind of structural changes seen in other long-standing inflammatory diseases like childhood asthma also occur in EE,” said Seema Aceves, M.D., Ph.D., of UCSD’s Allergy Immunology section of the Department of Pediatrics. Aceves is also a physician at Rady Children’s Hospital in San Diego and directs a treatment center for children with eosinophilic gastrointestinal disorders.

The research team studied biopsies of the esophagus from children with an initial diagnosis of EE who had not yet been treated, comparing them to biopsies of children with acid reflux disease as well as those of children with normal esophageal biopsies.

“We found fibrosis, or scarring, as well as remodeling of the esophagus in pediatric EE patients which is similar to airway remodeling found in patients with asthma,” said Aceves.

Remodeling occurs in chronic inflammatory diseases such as asthma and results in alterations in structural cells and tissues not found in normal tissues. The UCSD study showed that children with EE were found to have previously unrecognized changes to their esophagus, including an increased number of blood vessels in the sub-epithelium, the region below the surface of the interior lining of the esophagus. There were also a larger number of adhesion molecules present in these blood vessels, which cause the vessel wall to become sticky. As a result, allergy cells adhere to the sticky vessels and are then able to cross the blood barrier, resulting in inflammation in the esophagus.

These studies – performed by Aceves through an ongoing collaboration with the laboratory of David Broide, M.B. Ch.B., professor of medicine at UCSD School of Medicine and an expert in airway remodeling in asthma – identified three molecules that contribute to these changes in the esophagus, and could provide new therapeutic targets for EE. Their data suggests that increased expression of the molecules TGF-beta 1, phospohrylated-SMAD2/3, and VCAM-1 may be involved in remodeling that leads to scarring and narrowing of the esophagus. These molecules may serve as markers to provide physicians with a basis for predicting disease severity.

###

Additional contributors to the paper include Robert O. Newbury, M.D., Ranjan Dohil, M.D. and John F. Bastian, M.D. Funding for the research was provided by the National Institutes of Health and the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology Education and Research Trust.

Contact: Debra Kain
University of California – San Diego

Dermatologist Discovers ‘Oral Nickel’ Cures Most Common Jewelry Allergies

Plymouth Pharmaceuticals(R), Inc. announced today that it has introduced Psorizide(R) Forte, prescription tablets for the treatment of contact dermatitis due to nickel (costume jewelry allergy).

Nickel jewelry allergy, commonly known in the medical community as Allergic Contact Dermatitis (ACD), affects 15-20 percent of women. Nickel exposure is the most common cause of ACD. Its primary onset is during adolescent years and is marked by itchy red patches where costume jewelry touches the skin. Most people who have ACD are forced to discontinue wearing any jewelry that is not 18 Karat gold, silver, or surgical stainless steel. Other than avoidance of costume jewelry, the common treatment for nickel jewelry allergy is corticosteroids, which have side effects and only treat the symptoms.

Dermatologist, Dr. Steven A. Smith, MD, FACP, was searching for a better way to treat patients with nickel jewelry allergy and thus formulated Psorizide(R) Forte. “Psorizide(R) Forte is a prescription, biochemical homeopathic tablet that is safe and completely steroid free,” Dr. Smith said, a fellow of the American College of Physicians. “Most cases of common jewelry allergy can now be cured by a novel pill containing the actual offending agent — Nickel. A unique program of oral nickel desensitization (Psorizide(R) Forte) prevents this angry, itchy, red skin reaction that affects 15-20% of women.”

Smith, a board certified dermatologist, has successfully cured many of his patients with so-called jewelry dermatitis. “From ancient times women have sought a cure for this frustrating skin beautification problem,” Smith said. “Previously women had to abstain from using costume jewelry altogether or use a corticosteroid, which only treats the symptoms, not the underlying problem. This is good news for millions of women. Psorizide(R) Forte can be prescribed by any licensed practitioner but is currently understood best by dermatologists and allergists. It works through a well-known process called desensitization. This process of desensitization is very similar to hay fever desensitizing shots given by allergy doctors; however, Psorizide(R) Forte is given orally. The idea is to initially administer very small doses of the allergic substance (nickel), then gradually increase the dose until the body begins to accept nickel instead of causing an allergic skin reaction.”

Miles Smith, the company’s Vice President, said, “Psorizide(R) Forte tablets can be swallowed, chewed, or dissolved by mouth for easy use. Side effects are few and price is very competitive with other prescription treatments. Our goal is to assist Dermatologists and Allergists in the fight against nickel jewelry allergy. McKesson, Cardinal Health and Amerisource Bergen, the three largest US drug wholesale distributors, currently stock Psorizide(R) Forte; pharmacies routinely use one of these distributors to fill a prescription.”

A clinical case study treating nickel allergic patients with oral nickel (Psorizide(R) Forte) has been completed with positive results. 81 percent (48 out of 59) successfully completed a 6 week course of nickel desensitization. All patients available for post-study analysis, 11 out of 11 (100 percent), stated that their nickel jewelry reaction had improved markedly. All patients were able to wear costume jewelry without any allergic reaction (data on file). “Psorizide(R) Forte is an effective, inexpensive, safe, and easy to use, unique prescription treatment. It is the first alternative treatment developed in decades for this problem and the only one that reverses the root cause,” Dr. Smith said.

Dr. Smith will be available for physician to physician consultations and media interviews at the annual AAD (American Academy of Dermatology) meeting in Washington, DC during the week of Feb. 2-6, 2007 by advance appointment only. The company’s tradeshow booth is #4125, right beside Neutrogena. Please call the number above if you desire a consultation or interview. For more information about Plymouth Pharmaceuticals’(R) products, visit http://www.PsorizideForte.com.

Plymouth Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
http://www.plymouthpharmaceuticals.com

Subcutaneous Injection Of Pollen-Extract Can Ward Off Symptoms Of Hayfever

Injecting small amounts of pollen-extract just below the skin in people who have hayfever can desensitize them to the pollen and reduce their symptoms. It also reduces the amount of medication they use.

These are the conclusions from a Cochrane Review of this therapy. The review pooled data from 51 trials involving a total of 2871 patients, 1645 of whom received an active treatment, while 1226 received an inactive placebo. Treatment consisted of an average of 18 injections spread over a range of times from three days to three years.

The review found that the treatment was safe, with serious adverse reactions to the therapy occurring in only four patients; one of whom had been given a placebo. Three had an anaphylactic reaction and one had an attack of asthma. All of them recovered fully and none dropped out of the trial as a result of these side-effects.

“Because of the very low, but real, risk of an adverse reaction, this treatment should only given in facilities that have full resuscitation back up. Unfortunately, in the UK, this means that it can only be given in specialized centres, which greatly limits its use,” says Review Authors Moises Calderon, a Senior Clinical Fellow in the Department of Allergy and Respiratory Medicine at the Royal Brompton Hospital, London, and Professor Aziz Sheikh, Primary Care Research and Development at the University of Edinburgh.

The risk of an adverse reaction also means that it should not be given to people who also have asthma.

The Cochrane Review concluded that injection immunotherapy is a safe and valid treatment for patients with hayfever, and particularly those who have not responded to other treatments.

Calderon MA et al. Allergen injection immunotherapy for seasonal allergic rhinitis. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2007, Issue 1. Art. No.: CD001936. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD001936.pub2.

###

The Cochrane Library, 2007, Issue 1

Notes

1. The Cochrane Library contains high quality health care information, including Systematic Reviews from The Cochrane Collaboration. These Reviews bring together research on the effects of health care and are considered the gold standard for determining the relative effectiveness of different interventions. The Cochrane Collaboration (http://www.cochrane.org/) is a UK registered international charity and the world’s leading producer of systematic Reviews. It has been demonstrated that Cochrane Systematic Reviews are of comparable or better quality and are updated more often than the Reviews published in print journalsВЄ.

2. The Cochrane Library can be accessed at http://www.thecochranelibrary.com/. Guest users may access abstracts for all Reviews in the database, and members of the media may request full access to the contents of the Library. For further information, see contact details below.

3. A number of countries have national provisions by which some or all of their residents are able to access The Cochrane Library for free. These include:

Australia www.nicsl.com.au/Cochrane

All residents of Australia with access to the Internet can access The Cochrane Library for free, thanks to funding provided by the Australian Government and administered by the National Institute of Clinical Studies

Denmark www.vifab.dk or www.sundhedsportalen.dk or www.deff.dk or www.cochrane.dk All residents of Denmark (including Greenland and the Faroe Islands) can access The Cochrane Library for free, thanks to funding for a national provision from Videns-og Forskningscenter for Alternativ Behandling (ViFAB), Den fælles offentlige sundhedsportal, Biblioteksstyrelsen and The Nordic Cochrane Centre.

England www.nelh.nhs.uk/cochrane.aspAll residents of England with access to the Internet can access The Cochrane Library for free, thanks to funding provided by the NHS Connecting for Health, National Library for Health.

Finland www.terveysportti.fi Access to The Cochrane Library is available in Finland for registered users of Terveysportti-portal provided by Duodecim Medical Publications Ltd.

Ireland All residents within the Island of Ireland can access The Cochrane Library for free, thanks to funding for a national provision by The Health Research Board in Dublin and The Research and Development Office in Belfast.

Latin and Central America and Carribbean http://cochrane.bireme.br All countries in Latin and Central America and Caribbean can access The Cochrane Library for free via the Virtual Health Library BIREME interface (in English, Spanish or Portugues), thanks to funding by BIREME / Pan- American Health Organisation (PAHO) / World Health Organisation (WHO)

New Zealand http://www.moh.govt.nz/cochranelibrary or http://www.nzgg.org.nz/ or http://www.cochrane.org.nz/All residents of New Zealand with access to the internet can access The Cochrane Library for free, thanks to the District Health Boards and the New Zealand Ministry of Health.

Norway www.cochrane.no All residents of Norway can access The Cochrane Library for free, thanks to funding for a national provision from The Norwegian Health Services Research Centre

Poland http://www.aotm.gov.pl All residents of Poland with access to the Internet can access The Cochrane Library for free, thanks to funding for a national provision by Agencja Oceny Technologii Medycznych

Scotland http://www.nes.scot.nhs.uk/ All residents of Scotland with access to the Internet can access The Cochrane Library for free, thanks to funding provided by the NHS Education for Scotland

Spain http://www.update-software.com/Clibplus/ClibPlus.asp

South Africa http://www.sahealthinfo.org/evidence/databases.htm. The South African Cochrane Centre (SACC) offers a limited number of free access registrations to The Cochrane Library to African residents. To apply for a sponsorship please register at: http://www.sahealthinfo.org/SAHealthInfoUtils/index.jsp.

Sweden www.sbu.se All residents of Sweden with access to the Internet can access The Cochrane Library for free, thanks to the funding provided SBU – Statens beredning fГ¶r medicinsk utvГ¤rdering/The Swedish Council on Technology Assessment in Health Care

Wales All residents of Wales with access to the Internet can access The Cochrane Library for free, thanks to funding provided by The Welsh Assembly Government. The Canadian Province of New Brunswick http://www.gnb.ca/0003/ Access to The Cochrane Library is available for free through the electronic resources section of the NBPLS website to all New Brunswickers who have a public library card thanks to funding provided by the partnership involving the New Brunswick Public Library Service (NBPLS), the University of New Brunswick (UNB) Libraries, and the Regional Health Authority (RHA) libraries

The Canadian Northwest Territorities, Nunavut, Yukon http://www.thecochranelibrary.comAll Northern residents with access to the Internet can access The Cochrane Library for free thanks to funding provided by the Pan-Northern Agreement and the Indian and Inuit Branch of Health Canada.

The Canadian Province of Saskatchewan www.thecochranelibrary.com All residents of Saskatchewan can access to The Cochrane Library for free by using public library facilities in the providence and remotely through their local library web site with a library card thanks to funding provided by the partnership involving the Health Quality Council, The Canadian Cochrane Network and Centre (University of Saskatchewan Site Group), the Multitype Database Licensing Program, and the Saskatchewan Provincial Library

The US State of Wyoming http://wyld.state.wy.us/dbloginform.html/ All residents can access The Cochrane Library for free at the state’s Wyoming Libraries Database libraries which include public, community college and medical libraries thanks to funding provided by Wyoming State Legislature’s Joint Labor, Health and Social Services Committee

4. There are also several programmes, such as the Health InterNetwork Access to Research Initiative (HINARI) that provide access in developing countries. To find out whether your country is included in any of these programmes/provisions, or to learn how to get access if you don’t already have it, please visit: http://www.thecochranelibrary.com/.

ВЄ Jadad AR, Cook DJ, Jones A, Klassen TP, Tugwell P, Moher M, et al. Methodology and reports of systematic Reviews and meta-analysies: a comparison of Cochrane Reviews with articles published in paper-based journal.

Contact: Amy Molnar
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Allergy Shots Offer Safe Relief For Hay Fever, Review Concludes

Allergy shots are effective and safe for reducing symptoms of hay fever, according to a new review. The injection series caused no deaths and few serious adverse reactions in 51 controlled studies.

Dr. Moises Calderon, of Royal Brompton Hospital in London, and colleagues evaluated the results from randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled studies in patients with seasonal allergic rhinitis due to tree, grass or weed pollens. The studies involved 2,871 participants.

The review appears in the current issue of The Cochrane Library, a publication of The Cochrane Collaboration, an international organization that evaluates medical research. Systematic reviews draw evidence-based conclusions about medical practice after considering both the content and quality of existing medical trials on a topic.

Hay fever, or allergic rhinitis, is an immune reaction to allergens such as dust, pollen, pet dander or mold. It usually results in sneezing, watery eyes and an itchy, drippy nose when sufferers come into contact with their allergy triggers.

The incidence of hay fever has been on the rise worldwide over the last two decades, especially in developed countries. Some allergy patients can control their symptoms by avoiding their allergy triggers or by taking antihistamines or other drugs, including nasal steroids. Other patients need stronger measures.

In allergy shot regimens, also known as immunotherapy, tiny amounts of an allergen, such as pollen, are injected under the skin, with the dosages gradually increased over the course of the treatment. Injections can contain one or more allergens.

After the initial treatment, the patient usually undergoes a series of maintenance injections over the next several years. This essentially desensitizes the patient to the allergen.

But deaths or serious adverse reactions to immunotherapy have been reported, causing its use to be limited in some parts of the world.

However, the Cochrane reviewers determined that the injections resulted in significant reductions in symptoms and less need for allergy medications when used in suitably selected patients with hay fever. Overall, quality of life was better for people who had undergone the treatment. The studies showed no long-term consequences from adverse events and no fatalities.

“We conclude that injection immunotherapy is a safe and valid treatment option in patients with seasonal allergic rhinitis,” the reviewers said.

The studies covered in the review used treatments ranging in length from three days to three years. Patients were shown to have allergies by a blood test or a skin-prick test.

The use of this treatment is extremely well accepted by allergists, but has been met with some skepticism by the rest of the medical community, said allergist Linda Cox, M.D. “I think it has always been a given that immunotherapy is effective for hay fever. There is very little debate on that,” said Cox, who is chair of the Immunotherapy and Allergy Diagnostics Committee of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology.

Immunotherapy is especially safe when done by an allergist, who is trained to deal with the rare instances of adverse reactions to the injections, Cox said. The leading risk factor for an adverse reaction to the shots is symptomatic asthma.

Adverse reactions to injections include itching of the nose and eyes, redness of the face, itching of the throat with cough, moderate wheezing and hives. The review reported two cases of anaphylaxis, a serious allergic reaction, among patients receiving injections.

For the most part, adverse reactions that occurred were generally mild, and those that were not responded to injections of adrenaline, the review noted.

Between 13 percent and 38 percent of people with hay fever also suffer from asthma, making them poor candidates for allergy shot regimens, according to the Cochrane authors.

The reviewers did not analyze cost-effectiveness, as few studies of the costs of the treatment have been performed.

More important is that the treatment has been shown to alter the progression of the allergic response, said Cox, who has a practice in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Patients who undergo immunotherapy are less likely to go on to develop asthma, she said. “There is a significant difference in the development of asthma.”

Calderon MA, et al. Allergen injection immunotherapy for seasonal allergic rhinitis (Review). Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2007, Issue 1.

The Cochrane Collaboration is an international nonprofit, independent organization that produces and disseminates systematic reviews of health care interventions and promotes the search for evidence in the form of clinical trials and other studies of interventions. Visit http://www.cochrane.org for more information.

Health Behavior News Service
Center for the Advancement of Health 2000 Florida Ave. NW, Ste 210
Washington, DC 20009
United States
http://www.hbns.org

Molecular Link Discovered Between Inflammation And Cancer

A team led by biochemists at the University of California, San Diego has found what could be a long-elusive mechanism through which inflammation can promote cancer. The findings may provide a new approach for developing cancer therapies.

The study, published in the January 26 issue of the journal Cell, shows that what scientists thought were two distinct processes in cells – the cells’ normal development and the cells’ response to dangers such as invading organisms – are actually linked. The researchers, who were also from the Salk Institute for Biological Studies and the La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology, say that the linkage of these two processes may explain why cancer, which is normal growth and development gone awry, can result from chronic inflammation, which is an out-of-control response to danger.

“Although there is plenty of evidence that chronic inflammation can promote cancer, the cause of this relationship is not understood,” said Alexander Hoffmann, an assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry at U.C. San Diego, who led the study. “We have identified a basic cellular mechanism that we think may be linking chronic inflammation and cancer.”

Cellular defense is a rapid process compared to cellular development, just as a state’s response to terrorist threats is swifter than the construction of new infrastructure. However, in both settings, safeguarding against threats and building structures have certain steps in common and require similar types of workers, or molecules.

Hoffmann referred to the parallel sets of steps in cellular defense and development as “mirror image pathways.” His team showed that these pathways are not distinct from one another because they are linked by a protein called p100. They found that inflammation leads to an increase in p100, but that p100 is also used in certain steps in development. Therefore p100 allows communication between inflammation and development.

A small amount of dialogue between inflammation and development is beneficial, say the researchers, akin to how information from anti-terrorism efforts could be useful to crews building the state’s infrastructure. On the other hand, the constant influence of defense processes on development is detrimental.

“Studies with animals have shown that a little inflammation is necessary for the normal development of the immune system and other organ systems,” explained Hoffmann. “We discovered that the protein p100 provides the cell with a way in which inflammation can influence development. But there can be too much of a good thing. In the case of chronic inflammation, the presence of too much p100 may overactivate the developmental pathway, resulting in cancer.”

In the paper, the researchers propose that thinking of the processes of defense and development as part of a single large system “represents an opportunity for therapeutic intervention.” For example, it might be easier to break the link between inflammation and cancer by targeting the developmental pathway, rather than the inflammation pathway.

“Many of the developmental signals that cells use are sent outside the cell, so they should be easier to block with drugs than inflammation signals, which tend to be confined within cells,” said Hoffmann. “It’s more challenging to design drugs that will enter cells.”

Because the molecules that play a role in the inflammation and development pathways have been extensively studied for many years, the researchers say that it is surprising to find a new molecule that significantly revises scientists’ understanding about the interactions between inflammation and development. They credit their discovery to an approach that combines biochemical techniques and computation.

“Our mathematical model of inflammation and development includes 98 biochemical reactions,” said Soumen Basak, a postdoctoral fellow working with Hoffmann. ” When we ran the model, it predicted that p100 levels would be elevated for a significant period of time when the inflammation pathway was stimulated. We confirmed the prediction using biochemical techniques with cells in the laboratory.”

” The finding is exciting because it means that p100 provides cells with a memory to inflammatory exposure,” added Basak, who was the first author on the paper.

Also contributing to the study were Hana Kim, Jeffrey D. Kearns, Ellen O’Dea, Shannon L. Werner and Gourisankar Ghosh from U.C. San Diego, Vinay Tergaonkar and Inder M. Verma from the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, and Chris A. Benedict and Carl F. Ware from the La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology.

The study was supported by the National Institutes of Health, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of America and the American Heart Association.

Contact: Sherry Seethaler
University of California – San Diego

Human Immune System Has Not Adapted To Changes In The Environment: Increase In Allergies Due To The Disappearance Of Protective Factors

It seems that the current “allergy epidemic” is due not so much to an increase in allergenic risk factors as to the disappearance of factors protecting people against allergies. The human immune system has not had the time to adapt to the rapid changes in the urban environment and way of life. These are the conclusions of Professor Tari Haahtela and his research team, who have been studying allergies in Finnish and Russian Karelia. Their project is part of the Academy’s Microbes and Man Research Programme, the evaluation of which has just been completed.

The research was concerned with the prevalence of allergic diseases in Finnish and Russian Karelia as well as risk factors in schoolchildren and their mothers. The prevalence of atopic allergy was determined by skin prick tests and by measuring serum antibodies. Other data were collected by questionnaires.

In Finland, the risk of allergic predisposition in children is four times and in mothers 2.4 times greater than in Russia. There are also marked country differences in the prevalence of allergic diseases (asthma, allergic rhinitis and atopic eczema). Both in children and mothers their prevalence was significantly higher in Finland than in Russia. In an examination of generational differences it was found that children in Finland had more allergies than mothers, whereas in Russia the opposite was true. This suggests that the “allergy epidemic” in Finland is still ongoing, whereas in Russian Karelia it has hardly started.

Parental allergic disease was identified as a risk factor for allergies in children in both regions. Protective factors included farming as the family’s main source of livelihood as well as having pets, especially in early childhood. In part these results lend support to earlier observations, in part they contradict them. An environment rich in microbes seems to generate widespread tolerance against various environmental allergens. In Russian Karelia, atopic allergy, an indirect indicator of westernization, has not increased during the past few generations.

About SUOMEN AKATEMIA (ACADEMY OF FINLAND)

Suomen Akatemia on tiederahoituksen asiantuntijaorganisaatio. Akatemian tehtaevaenae on edistaeae korkeatasoista tieteellistae tutkimusta – laatuun perustuvalla pitkaejaenteisellae tutkimusrahoituksella, – tieteen ja tiedepolitiikan asiantuntemuksella sekae – tieteen ja tutkimustyoen aseman vahvistamisella. Vuonna 2001 Akatemia rahoittaa paeaeasiassa yliopistoissa ja tutkimuslaitoksissa tehtaevaeae tutkimusta runsaalla miljardilla markalla (yli 180 miljoonalla eurolla). Se on noin 14 prosenttia Suomen valtion tutkimuspanostuksesta. Akatemian rahoittamissa hankkeissa tehdaeaen vuosittain noin 3000 tutkijatyoevuotta.

SUOMEN AKATEMIA (ACADEMY OF FINLAND)
Vilhonvuorenkatu 6
PO Box 99
00 501 Helsinki
http://www.aka.fi/

Different Treatment May Be Needed For Infection-Related Breathing Problems

New research suggests that different treatments may be needed for chronic asthma, depending on whether it results from allergies or lung infections.

Previous studies have shown that certain lung infections such as Mycoplasma pneumoniae can linger on and contribute to a person later experiencing symptoms of asthma.

Researchers have now identified a particular gene that influences how severe a M. pneumoniae infection may be, which in turn suggests that a different strategy might be needed for treating asthma resulting from this and similar lung infections rather than allergies.

“What this shows is that infectious asthma might have a different mechanism than allergic asthma. Most people think asthma is asthma, but it may be multifaceted,” said Dr. Robert Hardy, an infectious disease specialist at UT Southwestern.

That’s an important implication because the latest statistics show that asthma is on the rise. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, more than 20 million Americans currently have asthma and another 10 million have been diagnosed with asthma at some point in their life. Roughly 6.5 million American children, or nearly 9 percent of the nation’s pre-adult population, have asthma, figures released in December show.

Dr. Hardy, an assistant professor of internal medicine and pediatrics, has been using mice to study how certain pneumonia bacteria contribute to chronic asthma and, in this latest study, identified how a particular gene may contribute to more severe lung infection. The research appears in the January edition of Infection and Immunity.

Pneumonia is a lung infection typically characterized by breathing difficulties and spread by coughing and sneezing. Symptoms often include headache, fever, chills, coughs, chest pains, sore throat and nausea. Dr. Hardy’s research involves pneumonia caused by the bacterium M. pneumoniae, commonly called walking pneumonia, a typically less severe form of the disease that accounts for 20 percent to 30 percent of community-acquired pneumonia.

To investigate the mechanism by which M. pneumoniae causes lung disease and respiratory difficulties, the UT Southwestern researchers inoculated two different types of mice with this bacterium. The study contrasted the reaction of one normal group of mice with another group lacking a particular gene called IL-12, which is involved in immune response. The mice engineered without the gene showed significantly less lung inflammation than the mice that naturally had the gene, with some indicators showing seven times less inflammation.

“M. pneumoniae might be more of a cofactor in developing chronic asthma than a direct cause, similar to how high cholesterol or diabetes makes people more vulnerable to heart attacks,” Dr. Hardy said, pointing to a number of previous studies. “It’s probably not the only thing, but it’s one of them. In some people it might incite asthma or it might exacerbate it.”

Because the M. pneumoniae bacterium is difficult to kill and often remains in the lungs even after antibiotic treatment and the symptoms fade, Dr. Hardy said, it is important to find better treatments to prevent it from lingering.

###

Other UT Southwestern researchers involved in the study were Dr. George McCracken, professor and chief of pediatric infectious diseases; Dr. Ana Gomez, assistant professor of pathology; Drs. Christine Salvatore, Asuncion Mejias and Cynthia Somers, pediatrics postdoctoral trainees; Kathy Katz-Gaynor, pediatrics research associate; and Monica Fonseca-Aten and Susanna Chavez-Bueno, former pediatric postdoctoral trainees.

The study was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

About UT Southwestern Medical Center

UT Southwestern Medical Center, one of the premier medical centers in the nation, integrates pioneering biomedical research with exceptional clinical care and education. Its more than 1,400 full-time faculty members – including four active Nobel Prize winners, more than any other medical school in the world – are responsible for groundbreaking medical advances and are committed to translating science-driven research quickly to new clinical treatments. UT Southwestern physicians provide medical care in 40 specialties to nearly 89,000 hospitalized patients and oversee 2.1 million outpatient visits a year.

Dr. Robert Hardyl

Contact: Russell Rian
UT Southwestern Medical Center

Allergy To Hair Dye Increasing

Allergic reactions to hair dye are increasing as more and younger people dye their hair, warn researchers in this week’s BMJ.

This can lead to dermatitis on the face and, in severe cases, facial swelling may occur.

More than two thirds of hair dyes currently contain para-phenylenediamine (PPD) and other related agents. During the 20th century, allergic reactions to PPD became such a serious problem that it was banned from hair dyes in Germany, France, and Sweden.

Current European Union legislation allows PPD to comprise up to 6% of the constituents of hair dyes on the consumer market, but no satisfactory or widely accepted alternatives to these agents are available for use in permanent hair dye.

Dermatologists report anecdotally that the frequency of positive reactions to PPD on patch testing is increasing. This was confirmed in a recent survey in London, which found a doubling in frequency over six years to 7.1% in a clinic for adults with contact dermatitis. This trend has also been observed in other countries.

Market research also indicates that more people are dyeing their hair and are doing so at a younger age. A survey in 1992 by the Japan Soap and Detergent Association found 13% of female high school students, 6% of women in their 20s, and 2% of men in their 20s reported using hair colouring products. By 2001 the proportions had increased in these three groups to 41%, 85%, and 33%, respectively.

Severe hair dye reactions among children have also recently been reported.

Wider debate on the safety and composition of hair dyes is overdue, say the authors. Cultural and commercial pressures to dye hair are putting people at risk and increasing the burden on health services.

It may not be easy to reverse these trends, however, as some patients have continued to use such dyes even when advised that they are allergic to them and risk severe reactions, they conclude.

Click here to view full editorial (p6 of pdf): http://press.psprings.co.uk/bmj/february/edit0302.pdf.

British Medical Journal
BMA House, Tavistock Sq
London WC1H 9JP
United Kingdom
http://www.bmj.com

Uncontrolled Exercise-Induced Asthma Limits Physical Activity

People with exercise-induced asthma (EIA) may not be able to participate in physical activities if it is not properly controlled, according to the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (AAAAI).

About 20 million Americans suffer from asthma. In addition, many non- asthmatic patients, up to 13% of the population, experience asthma symptoms with exercise.

“If someone is experiencing symptoms of EIA, it is important for them to be properly diagnosed by an allergist/immunologist to make sure it is not something more serious,” said Tim Craig, DO, FAAAAI, Chair of the AAAAI’s Sports Medicine Committee. “The physician will be able to treat the patient’s EIA with proper medications and will also address other issues to ensure the person can participate in sports and exercise to their fullest capacity.”

EIA is caused by airways that are overly sensitive to sudden changes in temperature and humidity, especially when breathing colder, drier air. During physical activity, people tend to breathe through their mouths, allowing the cold, dry air to reach the lower airways without passing through the warming, humidifying effect of the nose.

Symptoms of EIA include wheezing, chest tightness, coughing, chest pain, shortness of breath and fatigue. These symptoms can be controlled with proper medication and guidance from an allergist/immunologist.

Inhaled medications taken prior to exercise are helpful in controlling and preventing exercise-induced bronchospasm. The medication of choice in preventing EIA symptoms is a short-acting beta 2 agonist bronchodilator spray used 15 minutes before exercise. These medications are effective in 80 to 90 percent of patients, have a rapid onset of action, and last for up to four to six hours. These drugs can also be used to relieve symptoms associated with EIA after they occur.

In addition to medications, a warm-up period of activity before exercise may lessen the chest tightness that occurs after exertion. A warm-down period, including stretching and jogging after strenuous activity, may prevent air in the lungs from changing rapidly from cold to warm, and may prevent EIA symptoms that occur after exercise.

When to see an allergy/asthma specialist

The AAAAI’s How the Allergist/Immunologist Can Help: Consultation and Referral Guidelines Citing the Evidence provides information to assist patients and health care professionals in determining when a patient may need consultation or ongoing specialty care by the allergist/immunologist. Patients should see an allergist/immunologist if they:

— Have exercise-induced symptoms that are unusual or do not respond well to pre-treatment with albuterol, nedocromil, or cromolyn.

— Have had exercise-induced anaphylaxis or food-dependent exercise- induced anaphylaxis.

— Want to SCUBA dive and have a history of asthma.

If you believe you may have EIA or have been diagnosed with EIA, talk to your allergist/immunologist about a personalized management plan for your EIA and begin exercising again. Many asthmatics have found that with proper medical treatment, they are able to reduce the symptoms of EIA.

To find an allergist/immunologist in your area or to learn more about allergies and asthma visit the AAAAI Web site at http://www.aaaai.org.

The AAAAI is the largest professional medical specialty organization in the United States representing allergists, asthma specialists, clinical immunologists, allied health professionals and others with a special interest in the research and treatment of allergic disease. Established in 1943, the AAAAI has more than 6,000 members in the United States, Canada and 60 other countries. The AAAAI serves as an advocate to the public by providing educational information through its Web site at http://www.aaaai.org.

American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology
http://www.aaaai.org

Grape Expectations For Healthier Wine

A new technique that uses ozone to preserve grapes could help prevent allergies and boost healthy compounds at the same time, reports Jennifer Rohn in Chemistry & Industry, the magazine of the SCI. The same technique could be used in the wine-making process to produce healthier wines without the added sulphites that can cause asthma and other conditions in some people.

Mass-marketed grapes can remain in storage for months and are usually treated with sulphur dioxide to prevent decay. Although the sulphur dioxide is effective, it is corrosive and can cause severe allergic reactions in some people. Wine-makers have a similar problem in that the sulphites added to wines to prolong their shelf-life and allow them to age can make their wines unpalatable to some drinkers.

Francisco Artes-Hernandez and his team at the Technical University of Cartagena in Spain compared several different preservative methods with a new technique that involves exposing macroperforated packages of grapes at 0 degress C to cycles of 0.1 micro liters per liter of ozone. They found that ozone treatment was 90% as effective as SO2 at preventing decay. In addition, ozone-treated grapes had up to four times more antioxidants than untreated grapes (Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, doi 10.1002/jsfa.2780).

It is not yet known why antioxidant levels increase, but because these compounds are up-regulated in response to environmental stress in plant cells, it could be that the ozone is perceived as a biochemical insult.

Andrew Waterhouse, Chair of the Department of Viticulture at University of California, Davis, said that because wine growers don’t store grapes for prolonged periods, they are unlikely to use ozone in any preservation process. He agreed, however that the ozone process could be tweaked to replace problematic sulphites added to wine during the liquification process, presenting the possibility of healthier more hypoallergenic wines.

Antioxidants, natural compounds found in red wine, chocolate, coffee and many fruits, are believed to help prevent a variety of diseases including cancer and neurodegeneration.

###

Chemistry & Industry

Please acknowledge Chemistry & Industry as the source of these items. If publishing online, please include a hyperlink to http://www.chemind.org/ Please note Chemistry & Industry uses ‘&’ in its title, please do not correct to ‘and’.

About Chemistry & Industry

Chemistry & Industry magazine from SCI delivers news and comment from the interface between science and business. As well as covering industry and science, it focuses on developments that will be of significant commercial interest in five- to ten-years time. Published twice-monthly and free to SCI Members, it also carries authoritative features and reviews. Opinion-formers worldwide respect Chemistry & Industry for its independent insight.

About SCI

SCI is a unique international forum where science meets business on independent, impartial ground. Anyone can join, and the Society offers a chance to share information between sectors as diverse as food and agriculture, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, environmental science and safety. As well as publishing new research and running events, SCI has a growing database of member specialists who can give background information on a wide range of scientific issues. Originally established in 1881, SCI is a registered charity with members in over 70 countries.

Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture

About the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture

The Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture (JSFA) publishes peer-reviewed original research and critical reviews in these areas, with particular emphasis on interdisciplinary studies at the agriculture/food interface. This international journal covers fundamental and applied research.

JSFA is an SCI journal, published by John Wiley & Sons, on behalf of the Society of Chemical Industry, and is available in print (ISSN: 0022-5142) and online (ISSN: 1097-0010) via Wiley InterScience http://www.interscience.wiley.com/ For further information about the journal go to http://interscience.wiley.com/jsfa

About Wiley

John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., based in Chichester, England, is the largest subsidiary of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Founded in 1807, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. provides must-have content and services to customers worldwide. Their core businesses include scientific, technical, and medical journals, encyclopedias, books, and online products and services; professional and consumer books and subscription services; and educational materials for undergraduate and graduate students and lifelong learners. Wiley has publishing, marketing, and distribution centres in the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia, and Australia. The company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbols JWa and JWb. Wiley’s recently re-launched Internet site can be accessed at http://www.wileyeurope.com/

Contact: Lisa Richards
Society of Chemical Industry