Study of wheezing and its risk factors in the first year of life in the Province of Salamanca, Spain. The EISL Study.

OBJECTIVES: To determine the prevalence of wheezing and its associated risk factors in infants in the first year of life in the province of Salamanca, Spain. METHODS: A multicentre, cross-sectional, descriptive epidemiological study was designed to evaluate a representative sample of 750 infants in the first year of life, born in the province of Salamanca between 1 June 2008 and 30 September 2009. The study was based on a previously validated and standardised written questionnaire administered among the parents of those children seen for control at 12 months of age in any of the Primary Care centres in the province of Salamanca. RESULTS: The recorded wheezing rate was 32.3%. Feeding and sleep were seen to be affected in 46.3% and 80.9% of the wheezing children, respectively, and parent activity was also altered in 39.3% of the cases. A relationship was found between wheezing and nursery attendance (OR: 1.66, 95% confidence interval [1.19-2.31]); weight at birth >3500 g (OR: 1.45 [1.02-2.06]); the presence of eczema at this age (OR: 2.72 [1.75-4.24]); exclusive breastfeeding for <3 months (OR: 1.33 [0.98-1.81]); and maternal smoking during the last three months of pregnancy (OR: 1.60 [0.96-2.68]). The prevalence of recurrent wheezing (defined as three or more episodes) was 11.9%. Significant differences were observed with respect to nursery attendance (OR: 1.71 [1.08-2.72]), the presence of eczema at this age (OR: 2.55 [1.48-4.42]), a history of maternal asthma (OR: 2.19 [1.08-4.44]) and exclusive breastfeeding for <3 months (OR: 1.53 [0.98-2.38]). CONCLUSIONS: In the province of Salamanca, one third of the infants studied suffered wheezing in the first year of life. Infants exclusively breastfed for less than three months; attending a nursery; having suffered eczema; or with an asthmatic mother showed significantly more wheezing than the rest. Wheezing proved recurrent in 11.9% of the cases.

[Monocyte chemotaxis: critical evaluation of 2 methods of quantification]. / Quimiotaxis de monocitos: valoración crítica de dos métodos de cuantificación.

The mononuclear phagocytic system (Mo) possesses a series of well defined functions regarding both its circulatory components--monocytes--and histiocytic macrophages. These functions--antimicrobial defense, elimination of cellular particles or detritus, immunological interaction with lymphocytes cells, antitumoral defense and control of granulopoiesis--require chemotaxis and phagocytosis or preceding steps. Although knowledge of these functional aspects is continually becoming better--always assured by advances obtained in the study of the function and pathology of polymorphonuclear cells--, an authentic pathology of monocyte chemotaxis as an independent clinical entity doesn't exist. This is attributed to of these cells. The techniques currently in use differ not only in their methodology but also in their bases and thus the results obtained by various authors are not generally comparable. All this led us to do a comparative study, in control subjects, between two techniques which explore the chemotactic capacity of monocytes from peripheral blood. The chemotactic capacity of monocytes from peripheral blood in control subjects, measured by two distinct quantification methods, were studied: Radioanalytic Method (monocytes tagged with 99 mTc) and a morphological method (counting the number of monocytes per field in immersion). The results obtained from both techniques were very similar, the existence of significant differences in cell behavior with exposure to the different chemotactic substances used could not be demonstrated. These results are commented on.

Monocyte functional defects in rheumatoid arthritis.

Monocytes derived from peripheral blood of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) had a marked defect in their chemotactic and phagocytic activity. The chemotactic defect resides at a cellular level, while the phagocytic defect is serum-dependent. Both defects could be of importance in the pathogenicity of RA and the susceptibility to infection such patients show. Finally, monocytes were found to have a negative influence over spontaneous cytotoxicity mediated by T lymphocytes.