Correlation between food-specific IgG antibodies and phenotypes of chronic spontaneous urticaria / 中华皮肤科杂志

Objective:To investigate the correlation between food-specific IgG (sIgG) antibodies and phenotypes of chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) .Methods:Serum samples were collected from outpatients with active CSU, symptomatic dermographism (SD) , or acute urticaria (AU) , and healthy controls from 5 third-grade class-A hospitals such as the First Hospital of China Medical University between April 2014 and March 2015. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was conducted to detect serum levels of 90 food-sIgG antibodies and total IgE, Western blot analysis to detect levels of 20 allergen-specific IgE antibodies, and chemiluminescent microparticle immunoassay to detect levels of anti-thyroid peroxidase IgG antibodies and anti-thyroglobulin IgG antibodies. Comparisons of normally distributed quantitative data between two groups and among several groups were performed by t test and one-way analysis of variance, respectively; comparisons of non-normally distributed quantitative data between two groups were performed by Mann-Whitney U test; for comparisons of proportions, chi-square test and Fisher′s exact test were used. Results:A total of 248 patients with CSU, 22 with SD, 15 with AU and 13 healthy controls were recruited. The cut-off level for sIgG positivity was 100 U/ml (at least 2+) , and the positive rate of food-sIgG antibodies was slightly higher in the patients with CSU (176/248, 70.97%) , SD (15/22, 68.18%) and AU (11/15) than in the healthy controls (7/13; χ2 = 1.80, P = 0.615) . Among the 248 CSU patients, the proportion of patients with family history of allergic diseases was significantly higher in the sIgG-positive group (71/176, 40.34%) than in the sIgG-negative group (19/72, 26.39%; χ2 = 4.30, P = 0.042) , while no significant difference was observed in the 1-day urticaria activity score (UASday) between the two groups ( Z = 0.18, P = 0.859) . Totally, 177 CSU patients completed 12- to 40-week treatment; their condition could be completely controlled by second-generation H1-antihistamines, and there was no significant difference in the required dosage of second-generation H1-antihistamines between the sIgG-positive group (128 cases) and sIgG-negative group (49 cases; Z = -1.06, P = 0.298) . Conclusions:The prevalence of family history of allergic diseases was relatively high in food-sIgG-positive patients with CSU. However, food-sIgG could not be used as an indicator to reflect the disease activity of CSU and treatment response.

Development and verification of an indirect ELISA method for determination of specific IgG antibody against SARS-CoV-2 variant strain in rhesus monkey serum / 中国生物制品学杂志

@#Objective To develop and verify an indirect ELISA method for determination of specific IgG antibody of rhesus monkey serum against SARS-CoV-2 variant strain. Methods An indirect ELISA method for the determination of specific IgG antibody was developed using inactivated SARS-CoV-2 Beta variant strain inactivated vaccine as coating antigen,and optimized for the coating antigen concentration(1,2 and 4 μg/mL),dilution of serum(1∶800～1∶12 800),blocking solution(PBST containing 1% BSA,2% BSA,1% skim milk,2% skim milk and 1% BSA + 1% skim milk),blocking time(30,60 and 90 min),dilution of secondary antibody(1∶5 000,1∶10 000,1∶15 000 and 1∶20 000),incubation time of serum and secondary antibody(30,60 and 90 min),and TMB reaction time(5,10,15,20,25 and 30 min). 60 negative serum samples of rhesus monkeys were detected by the developed method,and the negative and positive critical values were determined. The sensitivity and precision of the methodology were verified. In addition,the specific IgG antibody and neutralizing antibody against SARS-CoV-2 Beta variant strain in 44 serum samples of rhesus monkey were detected by the developed method and microneutralization method,and the correlation and consistency between the two methods were compared. Results The optimum detection conditions were determined:the coating antigen concentration was 1 μg/mL;the blocking solution was PBST containing 1% skim milk,and the blocking time was 30 min;the serum samples to be tested were diluted to 1∶1 600 and incubated for 90 min,and the secondary antibody was diluted to 1∶10 000 and incubated for 30 min;the color development time of substrate was 25 min. The positive critical value and negative critical value of the method was 0. 093 and 0. 084 respectively,and the detection values between them were judged as suspicious. The dilution of5 positive serum samples that showed positive results was 1∶51 200;the coefficients of variation(CVs)of precision were all less than 15%. There was a strong correlation between IgG antibody titer and neutralizing antibody level in the 44 rhesus monkey serum samples(r = 0. 858 0,P < 0. 000 1);the total coincidence rate of the two methods was 90. 9%,the positive coincidence rate was 93. 6%,and the negative coincidence rate was 84. 6%;the consistency test Kappa value was 0. 783 8(95% CI:0. 586 5～0. 981 0). Conclusion The developed indirect ELISA method for eletermination of specific IgG antibody against SARS-CoV-2 Beta variant strain in rhesus monkey serum has good sensitivity and precision,and has strong consistency with microneutralization method,which can be used for the determination of IgG antibody in rhesus monkey serum.

Development and evaluation of light-initiated chemiluminescent assay for quantitation of milk-specific IgG 4 antibody in human serum / 临床检验杂志

Objective@#To develop and evaluate a beads-based light-initiated chemiluminescent assay (LICA) for quantitation of cow milk component (Bos d 5) specific IgG 4 antibody in human serum. @*Methods@#The sIgG 4 -LICA was performed by incubated serum samples with biotinylated allergens, emission beads coated with mouse anti-human IgG 4 antibody and streptavidin-coated sensitizer beads. The reaction conditions of sIgG 4 -LICA were optimized and the analytical performance was evaluated. @*Results@#The precision of intra-assay, within-day and inter-assay (coefficient of variation) were 1.78% to 3.13%, 6.65% to 8.41% and 7.94% to 12.30%, respectively. The functional sensitivity of this assay was 4.71 ng/mL. For the linear range, the sIgG 4 -LICA had a good linear relationship within the range between 28.13 and 1 800 ng/mL, and the linear regression equation was Y=0.98X-1.31(r 2 =0.997). Maximum dilution limit was 1∶64. The disturbing rates measured by adding hemoglobin, triacylglycerol, total bilirubin, acid resistance and biotin to human sera with different concentrations of Bos d 5 sIgG 4 were from -6.38% to 8.60%. @*Conclusions@#The sIgG 4 -LICA introduced in this study was demonstrated to have effective performance for quantitation of allergen-specific IgG 4 and can meet the need of clinical requirement.

Progress of the effect of maternal diet avoidance on infant eczema / 国际儿科学杂志

Eczema is the most common and earliest allergic disease in infancy,which seriously affects the quality of life of infants.In recent years,the incidence of infant eczema has been on the rise and there is no radical cure.This article reviews the etiology of eczema,the concept and the mechanism of food intolerance associated with food-specific IgG,and the relationship between infant eczema and maternal food-specific IgG detection,and discusses the literatures about avoiding eczema and improving the mechanism of eczema in lactating mothers,aiming at helping to solve the problem of eczema partially from the source,reducing the pain of recurrent eczema in infant,and avoiding or reducing the adverse reactions to the babies.

Evaluation of chemical-specific IgG antibodies in male workers from a urethane foam factory

BACKGROUND@#Plastic resins are complex chemicals that contain toluene diisocyanate (TDI) and/or trimellitic anhydride (TMA), which cause occupational allergies (OA), including respiratory allergies. Serum IgGs against TDI and TMA have been suggested as potential markers of the exposure status and as exploring cause of OA. Although TDI-specific IgG has been examined for suspected OA, TMA-specific IgG is not commonly evaluated in a urethane foam factory. This study therefore investigated both TDI- and TMA-specific IgGs in suspected OA patients and to evaluate the usefulness of the measurement of multiple chemical-specific IgG measurement for practical monitoring.@*METHODS@#Blood samples were collected from two male workers who developed respiratory allergies supposedly caused by occupational exposure to TDI and/or TMA for the presence of TDI- and TMA-specific IgGs. In addition, blood samples from 75 male workers from a urethane foam factory, along with 87 male control subjects, were collected in 2014 and tested for the same IgGs in 2014. The presence and levels of TDI- and TMA-specific serum IgGs were measured using dot blot assays.@*RESULTS@#We found that controls had mean concentrations of TDI- and TMA-specific IgGs of 0.98 and 2.10 μg/mL, respectively. In the two workers with respiratory allergies, the TDI-specific IgG concentrations were 15.6 and 9.51 μg/mL, and TMA-specific IgG concentrations were 4.56 and 14.4 μg/mL, which are clearly higher than those in controls. Mean concentrations of TDI- and TMA-specific IgGs in the factory workers were 1.89 and 2.41 μg/mL, respectively, and are significantly higher than those of the controls (P < 0.001 and P < 0.026 for TDI- and TMA-specific IgGs, respectively).@*CONCLUSION@#The workers suspected of OA showed an evidently high level of TDI- and TMA-specific IgG, and these levels in workers at the urethane foam factory were also significantly higher than those in controls. In conclusion, the measurement of TDI- and TMA-specific IgG among workers using plastic resins is helpful to monitor their exposure status.

Clinical research of treating irritable bowel syndrome with diarrhoea with food rejectingtrend / 中国综合临床

Objective To observe the food intolerance of irritable bowel syndrome with diarrhoea(IBS-D) patients and healthy physical examinees and the clinical effect of the treatment of IBS-D food rejectingtrend.Methods Sixty-eight cases IBS-D patients meeting the diagnostic criteria of RomeⅢ were selected and 40 cases of healthy as control group,tested 14 kinds of food specific IgG antibody by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay,treated the IBS-D patients with food intolerance for 12 weeks by the application of food rejectingtrend and observed the change of main symptoms.Results Among the 68 cases of IBS-D patients,55 cases had at least one of food intolerance,the positive rate was 80.88%;the control group had 13 cases of food intolerance,the positive rate was 32.50%,the difference between the two groups was statistically significant(χ2=25.28,P<0.01).The food with the highest positive rates of two groups were both wheat,egg white/egg yolk,milk and soybean.After 12 weeks of diet treatment,the total score of the symptoms of IBS-D patients decreased from (8.25±2.97) points to (3.13±3.52) points(t=11.107,P<0.01),self scores of the degree 0and frequency of abdominal pain,frequency of diarrhea,degree of abdominal distension,stool shape and general feelings of distress were significantly improved compared with that before treatment(t=12.429,11.016,5.685,5.558,7.681,11.065,P<0.01).Among 54 cases IBS-D patients(1 patient lost to follow-up),61.11%(33/54) significantly improved,24.07%(13/54) improved,14.81%(8/54) invalid,the total effective rate was 85.19%(46/54).Conclusion There is correlation between food intolerance and IBS-D.According to the Results of the detection of food specific IgG antibody,food rejectingtrend treatment can effectively improve the symptoms of IBS-D.

Detection and analysis of specific antibodies of food allergens in patients with allergic rhinitis / 中国耳鼻咽喉头颈外科

[ABSTRACT]OBJECTIVETo investigate the relationship between food allergen specific IgE, IgG and allergic rhinitis, and to explore the significance of food allergen in the diagnosis and prevention of allergic rhinitis.METHODSTen kinds of food specific IgE were detected by Western blot and 14 kinds of food specific IgG were detected by ELISA in 2860 allergic rhinitis patients. The positive results of specific IgE and specific IgG were retrospectively analyzed.RESULTSThere was no difference in positive rate of allergen in patients with different gender. Total positive rate of food specific IgE was 68.5%. The specific IgE positive rate of crab was 31.5%, shrimp 27.6%, milk 21.3%, fish assemblages 19.2%, freshwater fish assemblages 18.3% and soybean 17.2%. With the growth of age, the specific IgE positive rate of peanut increased, but eggs decreased. The total positive rate of food allergen specific IgG was 81.5%. The specific IgG positive rate of egg was 59.4%, milk 38.2%, codfish 32.6%, soybean 22.8%, rice 19% and shrimp 12.7%. With the growth of age, the specific IgG positive rate of crab increased. Specific IgE and IgG of soybean, milk, crab, shrimp and fish were correlated well.CONCLUSIONThe detection of specific food allergen antibodies is helpful for the diagnosis of allergic rhinitis.

Immunologic Evaluation of Patients with Cefotetan-Induced Anaphylaxis

Cefotetan is a commonly prescribed second-generation cephalosporin that acts against a wide range of bacteria. However, cefotetan-induced hypersensitivity has rarely been reported. We report 2 cases of cefotetan-induced anaphylaxis with immunologic evaluation. The first case was a 70-year-old asthmatic woman who had dyspnea and hypotension during administration of cefotetan, in which high serum-specific IgE to cefotetan-human serum albumin (HSA) conjugate was detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The second case was a 63-year-old asthmatic woman who complained of chest tightness and dyspnea during cefotetan infusion, in which high serum-specific IgG1 and IgG4 with no serum specific IgE to cefotetan-HSA conjugate was detected. The basophil activation test using basophils from the patient showed a significant up-regulation of CD63 with the addition of anti-IgG4 antibody compared with that in non-atopic healthy controls. In conclusion, cefotetan can induce anaphylaxis, which may involve both IgE- and IgG4-mediated responses in the pathogenic mechanism.

Commensal Fungi are Involved in Antigen-Specific Antibody Production in the Elderly.

Aims: Fungi are an important health hazard as commensal antigens. To demonstrate sensitization to fungi in the elderly and the influence of prohibition of oral intake under intravenous hyperalimentation (IVH) management with administration of antibiotics, we measured commensal fungus-specific antibodies. Methodology: Thirty one college students (21.7±1.0 years): Young adult group, 28 elderly subjects over 75 years from the outpatient department (84.3±4.5 years): Outpatient group, and 21 elderly subjects over 75 years who were inpatients and required IVH (87.6±6.0 years): Inpatient group were enrolled. Plasma β-D-glucan and serum total immunoglobulin (Ig) E, antigen-specific IgE for house dust (HD), Cladosporium, Alternaria, Trichophyton, and Candida and Candidaspecific IgG were measured. Results: Total IgE level was significantly decreased in the outpatient group compared to the young adult group (p＜0.01), and was increased in the inpatient group compared to the outpatient group (p＜0.05). HD-specific IgE was elevated in the young group compared to the two elderly groups (p＜0.01, respectively). There was no tendency for detection of Cladosporium-or Alternaria-specific IgE in the three groups. Tricophyton-specific IgE level was significantly elevated in the inpatient group compared to the young adult group (p＜0.01). Candida-specific IgE level was significantly elevated in the inpatient group compared to the outpatient group (p＜0.05). Candida-specific IgG was significantly elevated in the inpatient group compared to the other two groups (p＜0.001, respectively). Conclusion: It is suggested that commensal fungi, such as Trichophyton and Candida, are more markedly associated with antigen-specific immunoglobulin production in an immunocompromised condition in the elderly.

Analysis of food allergen spectrums in food anaphylaxis in Guangzhou / 国际检验医学杂志

Objective To analyse distribution of age and gender characteristics of specific IgG(sIgG)antibodies and specific IgE (sIgE)antibodies of 13 types of food allergens in patients with food anaphylaxis,and to explore the relationship between sIgG and sIgE in food anaphylaxis.Methods 314 cases of patients from 2009 to 2012 were selected as subjects,and divided into underage group(1 63 cases)and adult group(1 5 1 cases).Serum sIgG of 13 types of food allergens were detected by using enzyme linked immu-nosorbent assay,serum sIgE of these food allergens were detected by using immune capture.Results 80.25% of the patients were sIgG-positive,and no obvious gender differences were found;while the positive rates of sIgG in the underage group(94.48%)were higher than that in the adult group(64.90%),there were statistically significant differences(P < 0.05 ).34.39% of the patients were sIgE-positive.The positive rates of sIgE in male patients(40.68%)were higher than that in female patients(26.28%),and that in the underage group(55.21%)were also higher than that in the adults group(1 1.92%),there were statistically significant differences(P <0.05).Conclusion The total positive rates and its distribution characteristics of sIgG and sIgE of same food aller-gens were obviously different.Food anaphylaxis might be associated with age,gender,food types and individual diversity.

Antigen Specific IgG4 in Patients with Gastrointestinal Complaints.

Aims: To find the antigen specific IgG4 in patients with gastrointestinal complaints and in control group, to demonstrate suitability of detection of IgG4 by using antigen panel. Place and Duration of Study: Laboratory Management and Consultancy, Riga, Latvia, October 2012 - February 2013. Methodology: The study included 147 patients (46 men, 101 women, aged from 1 to 76) with different complaints regarding gastrointestinal habitus. Antigen specific IgG4 analysis by using regional adopted antigen panel was executed. Results: Almost all patients with gastrointestinal complaints -141 out of 147-have at least 2nd level antibodies, while in control group 15 out of 24 have 2nd level of antibodies. Conclusion: IgG4 antigen specific antibody tests by panels could be used as a screening tool for food intolerance detection.

Clinical application of the detection of sIgE and sIgG4 in children with allergic diseases / 国际检验医学杂志

Objective To explore the clinical application value of the detection of sIgE and sIgG4 in children with allergic asthma and allergic rhinitis .Methods The levels of sIgE and sIgG4 of allergic asthma group (n=85) ,allergic rhinitis group (n=72) and control group (n=60) were respectively detected by ELISA .The diagnostic efficiency of sIgE and sIgG4 were analyzed by using ROC curve .Results Before treatment ,the serum levels of sIgE and sIgG4 of allergic asthma group and allergic rhinitis group were remarkably higher than those of control group (P< 0 .01) .After 6 -month treatment ,the serum sIgE levels of allergic asthma group and allergic rhinitis group significantly decreased ,and the serum sIgG4 levels significantly increased (P< 0 .01) .For the combined detection of sIgE and sIgG4 ,the diagnostic sensitivities of allergic asthma and allergic rhinitis were 90 .6% (77/85) and 84 .7% (61/72) respectively ,and the diagnostic specificities of allergic asthma and allergic rhinitis were 81 .2% (69/85) and 76 .4%(55/72) respectively .Conclusion The serum sIgE and sIgG4 are good indicators for the diagnosis of allergic diseases .

Global Control of Pneumococcal Infections by Pneumococcal Vaccines

<i>Streptococcus pneumoniae</i> is a major worldwide cause of morbidity and mortality. Pneumococcal carriage is considered to be an important source of horizontal spread of this pathogen within the community. Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) is capable of inducing serotype-specific antibodies in sera of infants, and has been suggested to reduce nasopharyngeal carriage of vaccine-type pneumococci in children. PCV is generally immunogenic for pediatric patients with invasive pneumococcal disease, with an exception for the infecting serotypes. Based on evidences from the clinical trials of PCV, the health impact of childhood pneumococcal pneumonia appears to be high in developing countries where most of global childhood pneumonia deaths occur. PCV vaccination may prevent hundreds of deaths per 100,000 children vaccinated in developing countries, while PCV vaccination is expected to prevent less than 10 deaths per 100,000 children vaccinated in the developed countries. Therefore, the WHO has proposed a strategy to reduce the incidence of severe pneumonia by 75% in child less than 5 years of age compared to 2010 levels by 2025.

Global Control of Pneumococcal Infections by Pneumococcal Vaccines

<i>Streptococcus pneumoniae</i> is a major worldwide cause of morbidity and mortality. Pneumococcal carriage is considered to be an important source of horizontal spread of this pathogen within the community. Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) is capable of inducing serotype-specific antibodies in sera of infants, and has been suggested to reduce nasopharyngeal carriage of vaccine-type pneumococci in children. PCV7 is generally immunogenic for pediatric patients with invasive pneumococcal disease, with an exception for the infecting serotypes. Based on evidences from the clinical trials of PCV, the health impact of childhood pneumococcal pneumonia appears to be high in developing countries where most of global childhood pneumonia deaths occur. PCV vaccination may prevent hundreds of deaths per 100,000 children vaccinated in developing countries, while PCV vaccination is expected to prevent less than 10 deaths per 100, 000 children vaccinated in the developed countries. Therefore, the WHO has proposed a strategy to reduce the incidence of severe pneumonia by 75% in child less than 5 years of age compared to 2010 levels by 2025.

Molecular adjuvant interleukin-33 enhances the antifertility effect of Lagurus lagurus zona pellucida 3 DNA vaccine administered by the mucosal route

It has been shown that cytokines can act as molecular adjuvant to enhance the immune response induced by DNA vaccines, but it is unknown whether interleukin 33 (IL-33) can enhance the immunocontraceptive effect induced by DNA vaccines. In the present study, we explored the effects of murine IL-33 on infertility induced by Lagurus lagurus zona pellucida 3 (Lzp3) contraceptive DNA vaccine administered by the mucosal route. Plasmid pcD-Lzp3 and plasmid pcD-mIL-33 were encapsulated with chitosan to generate the nanoparticle chi-(pcD-Lzp3+pcD-mIL-33) as the DNA vaccine. Sixty female ICR mice, divided into 5 groups (n=12/group), were intranasally immunized on days 0, 14, 28, and 42. After intranasal immunization, the anti-LZP3-specific IgG in serum and IgA in vaginal secretions and feces were determined by ELISA. The results showed that chi-(pcD-Lzp3+pcD-mIL-33) co-immunization induced the highest levels of serum IgG, secreted mucosal IgA, and T cell proliferation. Importantly, mice co-immunized with chi-(pcD-Lzp3+pcD-mIL-33) had the lowest birth rate and mean litter size, which correlated with high levels of antibodies. Ovaries from infertile female mice co-immunized with chi-(pcD-Lzp3+pcD-mIL-33) showed abnormal development of ovarian follicles, indicated by atretic follicles and loss of oocytes. Our results demonstrated that intranasal delivery of the molecular adjuvant mIL-33 with chi-pcD-Lzp3 significantly increased infertility by enhancing both systemic and mucosal immune responses. Therefore, chi-(pcD-Lzp3+pcD-mIL-33) co-immunization could be a strategy for controlling the population of wild animal pests.

The New Establishment of Quantitative Determination Method for Food Intolerance Specific IgG / 天津医药

Objective To explore a novel quantitative detection method for the concentration of specific IgG (sIgG) in food intolerance, taking egg sIgG detection for the example. Methods A total of 173 patients underwent food allergen sIgG detection were included in this study, and 78 healthy subjects were used as negative controls. The microtiter plates were coated with biotinylated bovine serum albumin (BSA) and linked with streptavidin. Then, the biotinylated egg antigen and specimen were successively added into the wells of plate.After washing, enzyme labeled anti-human IgG was added to establish an antigen indirectly coated liquid-phase reaction patterns of ELISA method. The concentration of the biotinylated allergens and enzyme labeled antibody were optimized and the reaction conditions were determined. This method was used to detect the sIgG in serum samples. Results The biotinylated egg white was selected as antigen, the optimal dilution rate was 1∶2 000,and the most suitable enzyme labeled antibody dilution ratio was 1∶12 000 in this method. The within-run and the between-run coefficients of variation were 4.83%-8.55%and 4.88%-7.93%respectively. The specificity is preferable, the species-crossed reaction rates with crab, cow milk and goat milk were＜10%. There was a good correlation between the assay developed in this study and the food intolerance detection kit provided by United States BIOMERICA Inc ( =0.977X+8.45, r=0.961, P＜0.05). Conclusion The detection method can be used to detect serum sIgG for egg intolerance patients with easy operation, highly accuracy and specificity. Furthermore, it showed the capacity of excellent repeatability and flexibility potential, which provided a good foundation for developing a kind of“personalized”random combination of food varieties ELISA kit.

Traditional Chinese medicine constitution of individuals with food intolerance in Fuzhou areas / 中华健康管理学杂志

ObjectiveTo investigate clinical symptoms and influencing factors of food intolerance and to identify susceptibility of food intolerance among adults with various Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) constitutions.MethodsA total of 411 individuals were recruited by using simple sampling method.ELISA was used to test serum levels of food intolerance specific IgG antibody.TCM constitution,food intake habit,lifestyle,and biochemical data were collected.Results ( 1 ) The prevalence of food intolerace was 60.1％ (247/411).(2) The most commonly seen food intolerance specific IgG were those against egg (44.9％ ),crab ( 37.7％ ),or cod ( 23.1％ ).Intolerance to 1 to 5 kinds of food could be found in single individual.Subhealthy people were more likely to suffer from food intolerance ( P＜0.05 ).( 3 ) Those with food intolerance always presented with various symptoms,mainly respiratory system symptoms.(4) The most common types of TCM constitution of the participants were gentleness constitution,qi-insufficiency constitution,yang-deficiencyconstitution,anddampness-heatconstitution.Thoseofnon-bloodstasis constitution were more likely to suffer from crab intolerance ( P＜0.05 ).Conclusion The prevalence of food intolerance is relatively high in Fuzhou areas.Subhealthy status,obesity women,and pathological constitutions may be risk factors of food intolerance.

Association of beta2-Adrenergic Receptor Polymorphism with Work-Related Symptoms in Workers Exposed to Wheat Flour

PURPOSE: Our previous study indicated that the presence of wheat-specific IgG1 and IgG4 antibodies was associated with work-related symptoms in workers exposed to wheat flour. We performed this study to investigate the genetic polymorphisms of beta2-adrenergic receptors and wheat-specific antibodies in association with the clinical parameters of baker's asthma. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In total, 379 subjects working in a single industrial bakery were enrolled in this study. The skin prick test was performed with common inhalant allergens and wheat flour extract. The presence of serum- specific IgE, IgG1, and IgG4 antibodies to wheat flour were determined by ELISA. Whole blood samples were obtained for genotype analysis. Subjects were genotyped with regard to five candidate single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the beta2-adrenergic receptor gene (ADRB2; -47 T>C, 46 A>G, 79 C>G, 252 G>A, and 523 C>A) using a single-base extension method. RESULTS: No significant associations were observed between the genotype/allele frequencies of any of the SNPs tested and any clinical parameters. The haplotype of ADRB2 (GAA composed of 46 A>G, 252 G>A, and 523 C>A) was significantly associated with work-related symptoms (pG and haplotype [GAA] of ADRB2, the prevalence rates of wheat-specific IgG1 antibodies and lower respiratory symptoms increased significantly with exposure intensity (both p<0.05). CONCLUSION: The findings of the present study suggest that ADRB2 genetic polymorphism may contribute to the development of work-related symptoms in workers exposed to wheat flour, which can lead to baker's asthma.

Clinical significance of food allergen-specific IgG detection / 上海交通大学学报（医学版）

Objective To explore the clinical significance of detection of 14 kinds of food allergen-specific IgG. Methods Fourteen kinds of food allergen-specific IgG were detected by ELISA method in 211 patients with allergic diseases,and IgG positive rates of various foods were compared among patients with different sex,age and allergic diseases. Results Positive food allergen-specific IgG was detected in 193(91.4%)patients.Among 14 kinds of foods,the positive rate of food allergen-specific IgG was the highest for eggs(73.9%),and milk came the second.However,no elevated food allergen-specific IgG was observed for chicken and meat.Milk was the most common sensitizers for 0-12 month-old patients,and egg was the first cause for the other age groups.There were significant differences in the positive rates of food allergen-specific IgG for milk among different age groups(P<0.01).There was no significant difference in the positive rate of food allergen-specific IgG between males and females(P>0.05).The positive rate of food allergen-specific IgG in patients with eczema was the highest(96.4%),and the lowest(83.3%)was found in those with chronic diarrhea,while there was no significant difference among different diseases(P>0.05).The positive rate of food allergen-specific IgG for milk differed significantly among different diseases(P<0.01).Positive food allergen-specific IgG was detected in 12 kinds of food(except for chicken and meat) for patients with allergic purpura. Conclusion Food intolerance is a complex allergy.The food allergen-specific IgG detection is of great importance as reference for etiologic diagnosis of allergic diseases.

Changes of Serum Cytokines After the Long Term Immunotherapy with Japanese Hop Pollen Extracts

Japanese hop (Hop J) pollen has been considered as one of the major causative pollen allergens in the autumn season. We developed a new Hop J immunotherapy extract in collaboration with Allergopharma (Reinbeck, Germany) and investigated immunologic mechanisms during 3 yr immunotherapy. Twenty patients (13 asthma with rhinitis and 7 hay fever) were enrolled from Ajou University Hospital. Sera were collected before, 1 yr, and 3 yr after the immunotherapy. Changes of serum specific IgE, IgG1 , and IgG4 levels to Hop J pollen extracts and serum IL-10, IL-12, TGF-beta1 and soluble CD23 levels were monitored by ELISA. Skin reactivity and airway hyper-responsiveness to methacholine were improved during the study period. Specific IgG1 increased at 1 yr then decreased again at 3 yr, and specific IgG4 levels increased progressively (p<0.05, respectively), whereas total and specific IgE levels showed variable responses with no statistical significance. IL-10, TGF-beta1 and soluble CD23 level began to decrease during first year and then further decreased during next two years with statistical significances. (p<0.05, respectively). In con-clusion, these findings suggested the favorable effect of long term immunotherapy with Hop J pollen extracts can be explained by lowered IgE affinity and generation of specific IgG4 , which may be mediated by IL-10 and TGF-beta1.