Serum levels of Th2 chemokines, CCL17, CCL22, and CCL27, were the important markers of severity in infantile atopic dermatitis.

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is considered to be Th2 cell-mediated disorder. In most infants with AD, AD may be induced by food allergy. In the early stage of infantile AD, it is unclear whether there are changes in serum Th2 chemokines or in Th2 chemokine production by peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). Thirty-four patients with AD were examined (mean age, 4.5 months; female:male, 18:16). Ten age-matched infants with no history of allergic disease were used as controls. Thirty of these 34 patients were sensitized with ovalbumin (OVA; radioallergrosolvent score of >2). Serum levels of CCL17, CCL22, and CCL27 were measured with enzyme-linked immunosolvent assay (ELISA) kits and their correlation with the severity of skin lesions, defined by the scoring atopic dermatitis (SCORAD) index, was analyzed. The amounts of TNF-alpha, CCL17, CCL22, and CCL27 in the culture supernatants of PBMC from OVA-sensitized AD infants after stimulation with OVA were estimated with ELISA kits. Elevated serum CCL17, CCL22, and CCL27 levels significantly correlated with SCORAD index (r = 0.7181, p < 0.001; r = 0.5354, p < 0.005; r = 0.8312, p < 0.0001, respectively). CCL22 levels produced by PBMC from OVA-sensitized infants with AD reflected serum CCL22 levels. Only six of 30 OVA-sensitized patients in whom the skin signs increased immediately after OVA intake showed markedly high titers of TNF-alpha produced by PBMC after stimulation with OVA. These high TNF-alpha titers correlated significantly with serum CCL27 levels (r = 0.7181, p < 0.001). Serum concentrations of CCL17, CCL22, and CCL27 correlate well with the extent and intensity of AD in infants. Of the three Th2 chemokines examined, serum CCL27 correlated most significantly with the severity of AD. Thus, the peripheral immune responses of infantile AD patients are skewed to a Th2 dominant bias.

[Therapy with nebulized beta2 agonists (procaterol) in asthmatic children: pulmonary function and plasma levels after inhalation].

BACKGROUND: Relationship between post administrative changes in plasma drug levels and bronchodilation remains unknown. In this study, we measured plasma levels of procaterol, a beta2-agonist, when being inhaled through nebulizers in children with bronchial asthma to examine relationship between improvement of pulmonary function and the plasma levels. METHOD: Six asthmatic children with the mean age of 9.8 years, inhaled 0.3 ml of 0.01% procaterol solution through a nebulizer. We examined changes in pulmonary function and plasma procaterol levels before and after inhalation. RESULTS: Procaterol was detected in the plasma 2 minutes after inhalation when it already rose to the maximum level, and kept the steady until showing a decline in 30 minutes. The measured highest value was 87.8+/-45.1 pg/ml. FEV 1.0 remarkably increased 2 minutes after inhalation and was maintained until 60 minutes after inhalation. Other lung function parameters also improved. There was no significant change in the heart rate, but serum potassium concentrations significantly dropped in all patients 60 minutes after inhalation. CONCLUSION: Plasma procaterol levels promptly rose to the peak at 2 minutes after inhalation and decreased 30 minutes later. Improvement of pulmonary function started promptly at minutes after inhalation and it became a peak 60 minutes later.

Mouthpiece versus facemask for delivery of nebulized salbutamol in exacerbated childhood asthma.

We compared the bronchodilator response to salbutamol (albuterol) delivered by a compressed air nebulizer through a mouthpiece and via a facemask in 18 asthmatic children, to determine the most appropriate delivery method. Patients using a mouthpiece had significantly better mean percent increases in forced expiratory volume in 1 sec (FEV1) and in forced vital capacity (FVC) than those using a facemask 30 min after inhalation (FEV1, 56.4 +/- 32.6% vs. 28.9 +/- 19.1%, FVC: 34.4 +/- 26.4% vs. 7.5 +/- 14.9%, respectively). Nebulized therapy plays an important role in the management of bronchial asthma in children and should be delivered by a mouthpiece whenever possible in cases of exacerbated asthma.