ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Allergic rhinitis is among the most common chronic disorders of childhood with prevalence of up to 40% in children. Clara cell secretory protein (CCSP) is secreted by Clara cells in the lining fluid of airways. It has an immune-modulatory and anti-inflammatory activity. AIM OF WORK: Study aimed at evaluating CCSP as a biomarker in serum and nasal lavage fluid of children with allergic rhinitis. METHODS: A case-control study was conducted on sera and nasal lavage fluid samples from 15 children with allergic rhinitis and 15 healthy children as a control group. RESULTS: Children with allergic rhinitis had a male to female ratio 2 to 1, with a mean age of 9.47±2.75 years, while among the healthy group, six were males and nine were females, with a mean age of 8.63±2.28 years. Rhinorrhea and nasal obstruction were the most frequent symptoms (100%) followed by itching (93.3%) then sneezing (73.3%). Among allergic rhinitis patients serum CCSP mean±SD was 2.03±0.59µg/l; it was reliable to predict allergic rhinitis (P<0.0001); while nasal lavage CCSP mean±SD was 12.73±8.25µg/l and it was not reliable to predict allergic rhinitis. Its best cut-off value was 3.75µg/l with a sensitivity of 100%, specificity 80%, with a diagnostic accuracy of 90%. CONCLUSION: Clara cell secretory protein is a new peripheral sensitive marker of airway injury. Furthermore, serum CCSP level is a predictor of allergic rhinitis but not nasal lavage fluid CCSP.
Subject(s)
Rhinitis, Allergic, Perennial/diagnosis , Uteroglobin/blood , Adolescent , Biomarkers/analysis , Biomarkers/blood , Case-Control Studies , Child , Female , Humans , Male , Nasal Lavage Fluid , Rhinitis, Allergic , Rhinitis, Allergic, Perennial/blood , Sensitivity and Specificity , Uteroglobin/analysisABSTRACT
Twenty five non-atopic scabietic patients were examined to estimate their reaction to crude house dust mite Dermatophagoides farinae (D. farinae) and storage mite Tyrophagus putrescentia (T. putrescentiae) antigens. Skin prick testing (SPT) by extracts of both mites antigens showed significant higher positive results in scabietics when compared to non-scabietic control subjects. Moreover, 60% and 56% of scabietic patients showed positive levels of specific anti-D. farinae and T. putrescentia IgE respectively in comparison to 13.4% & 20% of control subjects. A significant difference has been obtained when the total number of positive results were compared to the total number of negative ones. The results revealed that there is an evidence of cross reactivity between Sarcoptes scabiei antigens and extracts of D. farinae and T. putrescentiae, and the hypersensitivity to house dust mite and storage mite antigens was significantly higher in scabietics than in controls. It could be concluded that there is some proof that other mites rather than Sarcoptes scabiei may have a role in the pathogenesis of scabies and the cross reactivity between S. scabiei and house dust mite and storage mite may explain the persistence of symptoms in some cases even after proper treatment of the disease.
