ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To explore the use of β-lactoglobulin polymerized using microbial transglutaminase and heating to identify whether protein polymerization could reduce in vivo allergenicity and maintain in vitro and ex vivo immunoreactivity for use in tolerance-induction protocols. METHODS: Based on previous protocols applied in mice and children, we performed in vivo challenges (using a skin prick test) with native and polymerized β-lactoglobulin in adult patients with an IgE-mediated allergy to plactoglobulin. In vitro humoral immunoreactivity was analyzed using immunoblotting. Cell-mediated immunoreactivity was analyzed using ex vivo challenges with native and polymerized β-lactoglobulin and monitored by leukocyte adherence inhibition tests. RESULTS: The skin tests demonstrated that there was a significant reduction in immediate cutaneous reactivity after polymerization. Polymerization did not decrease the immunoblotting detection of s-IgE specific to β-lactoglobulin. Cell-mediated immunoreactivity, as assessed by ex vivo challenges and leukocyte adherence inhibition tests, did not exhibit significant differences between leukocytes challenged with native versus polymerized β-lactoglobulin. CONCLUSIONS: The polymerization of β-lactoglobulin decreased in vivo allergenicity and did not decrease in vitro humoral or ex vivo cell-mediated immunoreactivity. Therefore, we conclude that inducing polymerization using transglutaminase represents a promising technique to produce suitable molecules for the purpose of designing oral/ sublingual tolerance induction protocols for the treatment of allergies.
Subject(s)
Adolescent , Adult , Aged , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Young Adult , Cysteine/immunology , Immune Tolerance/immunology , Lactoglobulins/immunology , Milk Hypersensitivity/immunology , Transglutaminases/immunology , Allergens/immunology , Case-Control Studies , Cysteine/chemistry , Heating , Immunoblotting , Immunoglobulin E/blood , Leukocyte Adherence Inhibition Test , Milk Hypersensitivity/prevention & control , Polymerization , Skin Tests , Statistics, Nonparametric , Transglutaminases/chemistryABSTRACT
A úlcera péptica é uma doença muito freqüente em nos- so meio. É causada na maioria das vezes pela bactéria Helícobacter pylorí ou pelo uso de antiinfiamatórios não, esteroídais. Não há quadro clínico característico e muitos doentes podem ter sintomatología pobre. A dor epigástrica é o sintoma mais comum e pode ter relação com a alimentação. O diagnóstico das úlceras gastroduodenais é feito através de endoscopia digestiva alta, que permite ainda verificar a exístêncía ou não da infecção pelo H.pylori. A erradicação da bactéria é o tratamento de escolha nos portadores do microrganismo. A utilização de medicamentos redutores de se- creção ácida gástrica é capaz de cicatrizaras úlceras da grande maioria dos pacientes, independente da etiologia. Os mais eficazes são os inibidores da bomba de prótons. Eles podem ser usados profílaticamente nos usuários crônicos de antiin- flamatórios que tenham risco aumentado de lesões, como nos idosos, nos que utilizam corticosteróides ou anticoagulantes e nos pacientes com doenças sistêmicas graves.
Subject(s)
Humans , Helicobacter pylori , Peptic Ulcer/diagnosis , Peptic Ulcer/etiology , Peptic Ulcer/therapyABSTRACT
Gender-related differences in gastric emptying are still controversial. The aims of this study were: to confirm the sex-related difference in gastric emptying of a solid meal and to investigate its association with different patterns of meal distribution between the proximal and distal gastric compartments. Eighteen healthy volunteers (nine males, mean age 35 +/- 9 years; nine females, mean age: 41 +/- 11 years) were studied in the morning, after ingestion of the solid test-meal (an omelette labeled with 185MBq of 99mTc-sulfur colloid). Simultaneous anterior and posterior images of the stomach were acquired immediately after ingestion of the meal and every 10 minutes for 120 minutes. Time versus activity curves were obtained for the whole, proximal and distal stomach. Gastric T1/2 was longer in women (96.1 +/- 17.2 min) than in men (79.9 +/- 17.8 min; P = 0.02). The analysis of the meal distribution inside the stomach showed no differences between males and females in proximal gastric emptying, but the meal retention in the distal compartment was significantly increased among women (P = 0.04). In conclusion, gastric emptying of a solid meal is slower in pre-menopausal women than in age-matched men, probably due to an increased retention of the meal in the distal compartment. This should be taken into consideration to avoid misleading diagnosis of gastroparesis for female patients