Hospital admissions for urticaria in a pediatric emergency department of a tertiary care hospital.

BACKGROUND: Urticaria is a common disorder, estimated to affect 2.1 to 6.7% of children and adolescents, and is a frequent cause of emergency department (ED) admissions. METHODS: The aim of this study was to retrospectively characterize the clinical features of children and adolescents with a diagnosis of urticaria, evaluated in a tertiary care pediatric ED between 2015 and 2019. Statistical analysis was performed using IBM SPSS Statistics®, version 27.0. RESULTS: A total of 2254 episodes of urticaria were counted with 98.1% corresponding to acute urticaria (AU). A suspected trigger factor was identified in 51.6% of the episodes, namely infections (27.8%), drugs (9.9%) and food (7.6%). From these episodes, excluding infections, only 59.2% were referred to an Allergy Consultation for further study, with only 18.8% (drug) and 28.3% (food) confirmed as the AU trigger. Of the 43 episodes of chronic urticaria (CU), 79% were referred to consultation, with 23 being diagnosed with chronic spontaneous urticaria, 8 with inducible urticaria and 3 with both entities. Older age (p < 0.001), personal history of atopy (p = 0.019) and angioedema (p = 0.003) were factors associated with CU, while the presence of other accompanying symptoms (p = 0.007) was associated with AU. Older age (OR = 1.2; p < 0.001) and the presence of angioedema (OR = 2.7; p = 0.007) were identified as independent factors for CU. CONCLUSION: The majority of episodes corresponded to AU. Infections were the main suspected trigger, followed by drugs and food, with an overall confirmation rate ranging from 18 to 30%, highlighting the importance of an allergologic follow-up evaluation.

Hospital admissions for urticaria in a pediatric emergency department of a tertiary care hospital

Background: Urticaria is a common disorder, estimated to affect 2.1 to 6.7% of children and adolescents, and is a frequent cause of emergency department (ED) admissions. Methods: The aim of this study was to retrospectively characterize the clinical features of children and adolescents with a diagnosis of urticaria, evaluated in a tertiary care pediatric ED between 2015 and 2019. Statistical analysis was performed using IBM SPSS Statistics®, version 27.0. Results: A total of 2254 episodes of urticaria were counted with 98.1% corresponding to acute urticaria (AU). A suspected trigger factor was identified in 51.6% of the episodes, namely infections (27.8%), drugs (9.9%) and food (7.6%). From these episodes, excluding infections, only 59.2% were referred to an Allergy Consultation for further study, with only 18.8% (drug) and 28.3% (food) confirmed as the AU trigger. Of the 43 episodes of chronic urticaria (CU), 79% were referred to consultation, with 23 being diagnosed with chronic spontaneous urticaria, 8 with inducible urticaria and 3 with both entities. Older age (p < 0.001), personal history of atopy (p = 0.019) and angioedema (p = 0.003) were factors associated with CU, while the presence of other accompanying symptoms (p = 0.007) was associated with AU. Older age (OR = 1.2; p < 0.001) and the presence of angioedema (OR = 2.7; p = 0.007) were identified as independent factors for CU. Conclusion: The majority of episodes corresponded to AU. Infections were the main suspected trigger, followed by drugs and food, with an overall confirmation rate ranging from 18 to 30%, highlighting the importance of an allergologic follow-up evaluation (AU)

Dynamic Regulation of Grapevine's microRNAs in Response to Mycorrhizal Symbiosis and High Temperature.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are non-coding small RNAs that play crucial roles in plant development and stress responses and can regulate plant interactions with beneficial soil microorganisms such as arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF). To determine if root inoculation with distinct AMF species affected miRNA expression in grapevines subjected to high temperatures, RNA-seq was conducted in leaves of grapevines inoculated with either Rhizoglomus irregulare or Funneliformis mosseae and exposed to a high-temperature treatment (HTT) of 40 °C for 4 h per day for one week. Our results showed that mycorrhizal inoculation resulted in a better plant physiological response to HTT. Amongst the 195 identified miRNAs, 83 were considered isomiRs, suggesting that isomiRs can be biologically functional in plants. The number of differentially expressed miRNAs between temperatures was higher in mycorrhizal (28) than in non-inoculated plants (17). Several miR396 family members, which target homeobox-leucine zipper proteins, were only upregulated by HTT in mycorrhizal plants. Predicted targets of HTT-induced miRNAs in mycorrhizal plants queried to STRING DB formed networks for Cox complex, and growth and stress-related transcription factors such as SQUAMOSA promoter-binding-like-proteins, homeobox-leucine zipper proteins and auxin receptors. A further cluster related to DNA polymerase was found in R. irregulare inoculated plants. The results presented herein provide new insights into miRNA regulation in mycorrhizal grapevines under heat stress and can be the basis for functional studies of plant-AMF-stress interactions.

Mycorrhizal Inoculation Differentially Affects Grapevine's Performance in Copper Contaminated and Non-contaminated Soils.

Plant inoculation with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) is increasingly employed to enhance productivity and sustainability in agricultural ecosystems. In the present study, the potential benefits of AMF inoculation on young grapevines replanted in pots containing vineyard soil with high Cu concentration were evaluated. For this purpose, one-year-old cv. Touriga Nacional grapevines grafted onto 1103P rootstocks were further inoculated with Rhizoglomus irregulare or Funneliformis mosseae, or left non-inoculated, and maintained in a sterilized substrate under greenhouse conditions for three months. After this time, half of the plants were transplanted to containers filled with an Arenosol from a vineyard which had been artificially contaminated or not with 300 mg kg-1 of Cu. At the end of the growing season, soil nutrient concentration, soil dehydrogenase activity and mycorrhizal colonization rate were analyzed. Grapevine performance was assessed by measuring several vegetative growth and physiological parameters as well as nutrient concentrations in leaves and roots. In the non-contaminated soil, R. irregulare- and F. mosseae-inoculated plants had significantly greater root biomass than the non-inoculated ones. However, the opposite effect was observed in the Cu-contaminated soil, where non-inoculated plants performed better regarding shoot and root development. Concerning nutrient levels, an increase in Cu, Mg and Mn concentrations was observed in the roots of plants growing in the contaminated soil, although only Mn was translocated to leaves. This led to a large increase in leaf Mn concentrations, which was significantly higher in non-inoculated and F. mosseae- inoculated plants than in the R. irregulare- inoculated ones. Copper contamination induced a general decrease in leaf N, P and Fe concentrations as well as chlorosis symptoms. The largest decrease in N and P was observed in F. mosseae- inoculated plants, with 73 and 31.2%, respectively. However, these plants were the ones with the least decrease in Fe concentration (10% vs. almost 30% in the other two inoculation treatments). In conclusion, this study indicates that soil Cu levels can modify the outcome of AMF inoculations in young grapevines, disclosing new AMF-plant associations potentially relevant in vineyards with a tradition of Cu-based fungicide application.