Trends of Sensitization to Inhalant Allergens in Korean Children Over the Last 10 Years.

PURPOSE: Climate and lifestyle changes increase an individual's susceptibility to various allergens and also the incidence of allergic diseases. We aimed to examine the changes in sensitization rate for aeroallergens over a 10-year period in Korean children. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 4493 children who visited the allergy clinic at a tertiary hospital in Korea for allergic rhinitis or asthma from January 2009 to December 2018. The serum specific immunoglobulin E (IgE) levels were measured to confirm the sensitization against Dermatophagoides farinae (D. farinae), Alternaria, weed and tree pollen mixtures, as well as cat and dog dander through ImmunoCAP test. RESULTS: D. farinae was the most common sensitizing aeroallergen (45.9%) during the 10-year span. The sensitization rate for tree pollen mixture (p for trend <0.001), weed pollen mixtures (p for trend <0.001), dog dander (p for trend=0.025), and cat dander (p for trend=0.003) showed ascending trends during the 10-year study period. Furthermore, the sensitization rate for multiple allergens (≥2) in 2018 increased significantly compared to that in 2009 (p for trend=0.013). Compared with children without sensitization to D. farinae, those with sensitization to D. farinae showed higher sensitization rates to other aeroallergens (p for interaction <0.001). CONCLUSION: Children's sensitization rate to cat and dog dander and weed and tree pollen mixtures significantly increased during the 10-year period in Korea. Children with sensitization to D. farinae are likely to be sensitized to other aeroallergens as well.

Preterm infants fed nutrient-enriched formula until 6 months show improved growth and development.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of the present study was to determine the effect of feeding nutrient-enriched preterm formula to preterm infants until 6 months' corrected age (CA) on growth and development in the first 18 months of life. METHODS: Very low-birthweight preterm infants were fed preterm formula until term (40 weeks CA). Infants were then assigned to one of three groups and were fed term formula until 6 months' CA (group 1, n= 29); preterm formula to 3 months' CA and then term formula to 6 months' CA (group 2, n= 30); or preterm formula until 6 months' CA (group 3, n= 31). Anthropometry was performed at term, 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, and at s18 months' CA. Mental and psychomotor development were assessed using the Bayley Scales of Infant Development II at 18 months' CA. RESULTS: Although body weight, length, head circumference and z score for CA at term in group 3 were significantly lower than those of groups 1 and 2, growth rates of these parameters were significantly higher in group 3 up to 18 months CA', as compared to groups 1 and 2. The mental developmental index and psychomotor developmental index of the Bayley test were not significantly different between the three groups. CONCLUSIONS: Very low-birthweight preterm infants fed nutrient-enriched preterm formula until 6 months' CA demonstrated significantly improved growth rates for bodyweight, length and head circumference, and comparable mental and psychomotor development throughout the first 18 months of life.

Effects of MK-801 (dizocilpine) on brain cell membrane function and energy metabolism in experimental Escherichia coli meningitis in the newborn piglet.

We evaluated the efficacy of non-competitive N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonist MK-801 (dizocilpine) as an adjuvant therapy in experimental neonal bacterial meningitis. Meningitis was induced by injecting 10(6) colony forming units of Escherichia coli into the cisterna magna. MK-801 3 mg/kg was given as a bolus intravenous injection, 30 min before the induction of meningitis. MK-801 did not down-modulate the inflammatory parameters, such as increased intracranial pressure, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leukocytosis, increased lactate and TNF-alpha levels in the CSF, and hypoglycorrhachia observed in the meningitis group. MK-801 did not significantly attenuate the elevated glutamate concentration in the CSF. However, MK-801 showed some neuroprotective effects as evidenced by significant attenuation of cerebral lipid peroxidation products (conjugated dienes) and increase of brain high-energy phosphate compounds (ATP and PCr). Improvement in cerebral cortical cell membrane Na+, K+ -ATPase activity did not reach a statistical significance. These results suggest that MK-801 was effective in ameliorating brain injury in neonatal bacterial meningitis, although it failed to attenuate the inflammatory responses.

Co-transfection with cDNA encoding the Bcl family of anti-apoptotic proteins improves the efficiency of transfection in primary fetal neural stem cells.

Inefficiency in primary neural stem cell transfection is a major obstacle in gene expression research aimed at determining the mechanisms underlying brain development. Following our initial finding that liposome-mediated transfection procedures are fairly toxic to neural stem cells, we further examined whether transfection efficiency could be improved by preventing cells from undergoing apoptosis. Transfection efficiencies were markedly enhanced by co-transfection of cells with prototypic anti-apoptotic genes, such as bcl-2 and bcl-xL, and supplementing the culture medium with B27 Supplement. This combination of anti-apoptotic gene co-transfection and B27 Supplement resulted in approximately 5% transfection efficiency of primary neural stem cells, compared to less than 0.2% in control transfections. Therefore, this procedure and other similar approaches employed to enhance the efficiency of transfecting neural stem cells may facilitate the understanding of mechanisms underlying self-renewal of neural stem cells and their differentiation into various cell lineages.