Influencing factors on the safety and effectiveness of venom immunotherapy.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: The safety profile of venom immunotherapy (VIT) is a relevant issue and considerable differences in safety and efficacy of VIT have been reported. The primary aim of this study was to evaluate the safety of ACE inhibitors and beta-blockers during VIT, which has already been published. For a second analysis, data concerning premedication and venom preparations in relation to systemic adverse events (AE) during the up-dosing phase and the first year of the maintenance phase were evaluated as well as the outcome of field stings and sting challenges. METHODS: The study was conducted as an open, prospective, observational, multicenter study. In total, 1,425 patients were enrolled and VIT was performed in 1,342 patients. RESULTS: Premedication with oral antihistamines was taken by 52.1% of patients during the up-dosing and 19.7% of patients during the maintenance phase. Taking antihistamines had no effect on the frequency of systemic AE (p=0.11) but large local reactions (LLR) were less frequently seen (OR: 0.74; 95% CI: 0.58-0.96; p=0.02). Aqueous preparations were preferentially used for up-dosing (73.0%) and depot preparations for the maintenance phase (64.5%). The type of venom preparation neither had an influence on the frequency of systemic AE nor on the effectiveness of VIT (p=0.26 and p=0.80, respectively), while LLR were less frequently seen when depot preparations were used (p<0.001). CONCLUSION: Pretreatment with oral antihistamines during VIT significantly reduces the frequency of LLR but not systemic AE. All venom preparations used were equally effective and did not differ in the frequency of systemic AE.

Charge and Spin Order Dichotomy in NdNiO_{2} Driven by the Capping Layer.

Superconductivity in infinite-layer nickelates holds exciting analogies with that of cuprates, with similar structures and 3d-electron count. Using resonant inelastic x-ray scattering, we studied electronic and magnetic excitations and charge density correlations in Nd_{1-x}Sr_{x}NiO_{2} thin films with and without an SrTiO_{3} capping layer. We observe dispersing magnons only in the capped samples, progressively dampened at higher doping. We detect an elastic resonant scattering peak in the uncapped x=0 compound at wave vector (∼⅓,0), remindful of the charge order signal in hole doped cuprates. The peak weakens at x=0.05 and disappears in the superconducting x=0.20 film. The role of the capping on the electronic reconstruction far from the interface remains to be understood.

Failure of desensitization with Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in two asthmatic patients.

Summary: Since December 2020, in various countries of the world, many cases of severe allergic reactions after administration of PfizerBioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, were reported. A great concern has arisen among the doctors who administer the vaccine and the allergic patients who undergo vaccinations. In Italy guidelines were published in order to stratify the risk in the allergic population. In mRNA vaccines, the component currently suspected of causing allergic reactions is the polyethylene glycol excipient (PEG or macrogol). In patients who have shown an immediate allergic reaction to vaccine and who are negative to skin tests for PEG, desensitization with the same vaccine is proposed. In this paper we describe two cases of asthma after the first COVID vaccine administration in which desensitization has failed.

Hypersensitivity to Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) in Peach-Allergic Patients: rPrup 3 and rPrup 1 Are Predictive of Symptom Severity.

UNLABELLED: Background: The role of allergens in the severity of tomato allergy symptoms has not yet been studied. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the relationship between severe allergic reactions to peach and tomato and between tomato allergy symptoms and the pattern of IgE positivity for rPru p 1, rPru p 3, rPru p 4, rBetv 1, rBetv 2, rBetv4, rPhl p 1, and rPhl p 12 in order to identify the role of recombinant allergens in the severity of reactions to tomato. METHODS: We studied peach-allergic patients with clinical reactions to tomato by performing an open food challenge, skin prick test, and determination of serum specific IgE to tomato and to recombinant peach, birch, and grass allergens. Statistical analysis was carried out to evaluate the relationship between the severity of tomato symptoms and IgE positivity to the different allergens and to peach-induced symptoms. RESULTS: We found a significant association between severe reactions to tomato and severe reactions to peach (P = .01 7) and levels of IgE to rPru p3 (P = .029) and between mild tomato allergy symptoms and levels of IgE to rPru p1 (P = .047), anti-rBetv 1 (P = .0414), anti-rBetv 2 (P = .0457), and Phleum pratense (P = .0022). CONCLUSION: We observed a significant relationship between peach and symptoms of tomato allergy. IgE positivity for rPru p3 seems to be a surrogate biochemical marker for severe tomato allergy, whereas the presence of anti-rPru p 1 IgE may be an indicator of mild tomato allergy.

Italian study on buckwheat allergy: prevalence and clinical features of buckwheat-sensitized patients in Italy.

Buckwheat allergy is considered a rare food allergy outside of Asia. In Europe, buckwheat has been described mainly as a hidden allergen. Data on the prevalence of buckwheat hypersensitivity in non-Asian countries is very poor. The aim of this multicenter study was to evaluate the prevalence of buckwheat sensitization and its association with other sensitizations among patients referred to allergy clinics in different geographic areas of Italy. All patients referred to 18 Italian allergy clinics from February through April 2011 were included in the study and evaluated for sensitization to buckwheat and other allergens depending on their clinical history. A total of 1,954 patients were included in the study and 61.3 percent of them were atopic. Mean prevalence of buckwheat sensitization was 3.6 percent with significant difference between Northern (4.5 percent), Central (2.2 percent) and Southern (2.8 percent) regions. This is, to our knowledge, the largest epidemiological survey on buckwheat allergy reported outside of Asia. Buckwheat is an emerging allergen in Italy, being more frequently associated to sensitization in Northern regions.

Altered prostate growth and daily sperm production in male mice exposed prenatally to subclinical doses of 17alpha-ethinyl oestradiol.

Approximately 2 million women in the USA and Europe continue taking oral contraceptives each year during undetected pregnancy due primarily to non-compliance and also to individual variation in sensitivity to hormones in the contraceptives. Prenatal exposure to oral contraceptives containing 17alpha-ethinyl oestradiol (EE) has generally not been associated with an increased incidence of externally observable malformations at birth. The purpose of this study was to assess effects on reproductive organs in adult male mice that had been exposed during gestation day 0 through 17 (equivalent to gestation week 16 in humans) to clinically relevant (approximately 0.5 microg/kg/day) and lower doses of EE. Doses used in this study ranged from 0.002 to 2 microg/kg/day. By 5 months of age, prostate weight was significantly (P < 0.05) higher than controls in most treatment groups of EE (0.02-2 microg/kg). Prostatic androgen receptor populations were significantly elevated only in the 0.02 microg/kg group, suggesting different mechanisms for the increase in prostate weight at different doses. Daily sperm production (DSP) and DSP per gramme of testis were reduced in all treatment groups during adolescence, but not later in adulthood. These findings are consistent with prior studies showing that prenatal exposure of mice to very low doses of a number of oestrogenic chemicals can alter the adult male reproductive system without causing gross external malformations.

Glucagonoma in a jaguar (Panthera onca).

An obese adult jaguar (Panthera onca) was euthanized because of progressive lameness. Two 3-cm-diameter pancreatic nodules were identified as islet cell tumors, which were positive with immunohistochemical stains for glucagon, neuron-specific enolase, chromogranin A, and synaptophysin. The jaguar did not present clinical evidence of hyperglucagonemia.

Subcellular compartmentalization of MCF-7 estrogen receptor synthesis and degradation.

Turnover of the estrogen receptor protein was studied by using enucleation of human breast cancer-derived MCF-7 cells, to examine receptor synthesis and receptor degradation in the separated cytoplasmic compartment (cytoplasts) and nuclear compartment (nucleoplasts). Cytoplasts synthesized estrogen receptors as measured by both hormone-binding and immunoassay, while estrogen receptors (but not progesterone or glucocorticoid receptors) were rapidly degraded in nucleoplasts with a half-life of 3-4 h. Little or no degradation of estrogen receptors in cytoplasts was observed under several conditions. Interestingly, MCF-7 cytoplasts contained approximately 15% of the cell's estrogen receptors, which were not 'translocated' by treatment with 17 beta-estradiol before enucleation. We conclude that the estrogen receptor can be synthesized at least to a hormone binding form in the cytoplasm alone without requiring processing in the nucleus, while the nucleus (or perinuclear cytoplasm) is the primary site of degradation of the estrogen receptor protein. In addition, the presence of a population of estrogen receptors that is cytoplasmic but nontranslocatable may need to be considered in the subcellular localization and actions of steroid receptors.