Validated allergen exposure chamber is plausible tool for the assessment of house dust mite-triggered allergic rhinitis.

BACKGROUND: Allergen exposure chamber (AEC) is a clinical facility that allows exposure to allergenic airborne particles in controlled environment. Although AECs offer stable levels of airborne allergens, the validation of symptoms and other endpoints induced by allergen challenge is key for their recommendation as a plausible tool for the assessment of patients, especially in clinical research. This study aimed to demonstrate the reproducibility of defined clinical endpoints after AEC house dust mite (HDM) challenge under optimal conditions in patients with allergic rhinitis (AR). METHOD: HDM was distributed at different concentrations. The assessment was subjective by the patients: total nasal symptom score (TNSS), visual analog scale (VAS), and objective by the investigator: acoustic rhinometry, peak nasal inspiratory flow (PNIF), and nasal secretion weight. Safety was assessed clinically and by peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) and forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV1 ). RESULTS: Constant environment: temperature, humidity, and carbon dioxide (CO2 ) concentration were maintained during all challenges. The concentration of HDM on average remained stable within the targeted values: 1000, 3000, 5000, 7000 particles (p)/m3 . Most symptoms were observed at concentrations 3000 p/m3 or higher. The symptoms severity and other endpoints results were reproducible. 5000 p/m3 , and challenge duration of 120 min were found optimal. The procedure was safe with no lung function abnormalities due to challenge. CONCLUSION: HDM challenge in ALL-MED AEC offers a safe and reliable method for inducing symptoms in AR patients for the use in controlled clinical studies including allergen immunotherapy.

[Evaluation of expression and correlation between P53, BCL-2 and BAX proteins in ovarian neoplasms]. / Ocena ekspresji i wzajemnych zaleznosci pomiedzy bialkami P53, BCL-2 i BAX w rakach jajnika.

OBJECTIVES: Interactions between BCL-2 and other proteins regulating programmed cells death in ovarian carcinomas are poorly understood. DESIGN: The evaluation of expression of P53, BCL-2 and BAX proteins in ovarian carcinomas. The associations between oncoproteins studied and the histological structure, grade of differentiation and stage of disease were also analysed. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The expression of P53, BCL-2 and BAX was evaluated by immunoperoxidase technique (PAP) in tissue sections and corresponding cyst and/or ascitic fluid cells in individual patients with ovarian carcinoma. RESULTS: It was shown that the expression of P53 and BAX was comparable in tissue sections and cyst or ascitic fluid cells of individual patients, however the presence of BCL-2 was detected more frequently in tissue sections. No correlations between markers studied and histological subtypes and grade of carcinoma were found. Taking into account the relationship between P53, BCL-2 and BAX expression, it was possible to classify the studied ovarian carcinomas into four phenotypes. Ovarian cancers with phenotype P53+/BCL-2- were more frequent in III/IV degree FIGO stages whereas the phenotype P53-/BCL-2+ were identified mainly in patients in I/II degree FIGO stages. The progression of disease and death occurred more frequently in groups with phenotype P53+/BCL-2+ and P53-/BCL-2-. CONCLUSIONS: Our observations indicated that estimation of P53, BCL-2 and BAX protein expression may be important in the choice of the chemotherapy.

Apoptotic regulators: P53 and survivin expression in non-small cell lung cancer.

BACKGROUND: Survivin and p53 are proteins that take part in cell cycle and apoptosis regulation. The biological function of survivin is essential for its oncogenic potential. The p53 protein is known to be a guardian of the genome and alterations in its structure enhance resistance to apoptosis. The aim of this study was to detect survivin and p53 expression in 74 non-small cell lung cancer in relation to basic clinicopathological data including the two-year prognosis. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 74 patients with non-small cell lung cancer were recruited into the study. Marker presence was revealed using immunohistochemical methods on paraffin-embedded tissue. RESULTS: The presence of p53 was visible in 52.7% of cases and its expression did not correlate with clinicopathological data. Survivin immunoreactivity was detected in 52.7% of all study cases and was statistically more often found in lung adenocarcinomas than in squamous cell subtype of lung cancer (67% and 37% respectively, p=0.03). Larger tumours, cancer with lymph node metastases and more advanced tumours according to TNM status showed higher incidence of survivin expression, but differences did not reach statistical significance. The survivin immunoreactivity did not correlate with the two-year survival. CONCLUSION: P53 protein expression did not appear to be a clinically important tumour marker. The clearly visible trend to more frequent survivin presence in more advanced non-small cell lung tumours needs further evaluation. The statistically significant difference in survivin immunoreactivity between two major pathological types of non-small cell lung cancer may be important for better selection of patients for specific biological therapy based on apoptosis regulation.