Increase in pollen sensitization in Swedish adults and protective effect of keeping animals in childhood.

BACKGROUND: To date, most studies of the 'allergy epidemic' have been based on self-reported data. There is still limited knowledge on time trends in allergic sensitization, especially among adults. OBJECTIVE: To study allergic sensitization, its risk factors and time trends in prevalence. METHODS: Within West Sweden Asthma Study (WSAS), a population-based sample of 788 adults (17-60 years) underwent skin prick tests (SPTs) for 11 aeroallergens 2009-2012. Specific IgE was analysed in 750 of the participants. Those aged 20-46 years (n = 379) were compared with the European Community Respiratory Health Survey sample aged 20-46 year from the same area (n = 591) in 1991-1992. RESULTS: Among those aged 20-46 years, the prevalence of positive SPT to pollen increased, timothy from 17.1% to 29.0% (P < 0.001) and birch from 15.6% to 23.7% (P = 0.002) between 1991-1992 and 2009-2012. Measurements of specific IgE confirmed these increases. Prevalence of sensitization to all other tested allergens was unchanged. In the full WSAS sample aged 17-60 years, any positive SPT was seen in 41.9%, and the dominating sensitizers were pollen (34.3%), animals (22.8%) and mites (12.6%). Pollen sensitization was strongly associated with rhinitis, whereas indoor allergens were more associated with asthma. Growing up with livestock or furred pets decreased the risk of sensitization, adjusted odds ratio 0.53 (0.28-0.995) and 0.68 (0.47-0.98), respectively. CONCLUSION: Pollen sensitization has increased in Swedish adults since the early 1990s, while the prevalence of sensitization to other allergens has remained unchanged. This is one plausible explanation for the increase in rhinitis 1990-2008 in Swedish adults, during which time the prevalence of asthma, which is more associated with perennial allergens, was stable. Contact with animals in childhood seems to reduce the risk of sensitization well into adulthood. One major factor contributing to the rise in pollen allergy is a significant increase in levels of birch and grass pollen over the past three decades.

Self-reported adverse reactions and IgE sensitization to common foods in adults with asthma.

BACKGROUND: There is very few data available on the prevalence of food hypersensitivity among adults with asthma. The aim of this study was to explore the prevalence of self-reported adverse reactions and IgE sensitization to the different foods and to determine the spectrum and the prevalence of food-related gastrointestinal symptoms in adults with and with no asthma. METHODS: A cross sectional study based on interviews and questionnaire responses from 1527 subjects, aged 18-75 years of age, from Västra Götaland in Sweden, as part of the larger West Sweden Asthma Study. IgE analyses were performed in sera from all subjects. RESULTS: Fifty three percent of adults with asthma reported adverse reactions to foods compared to 30 % of non-asthmatics. Most asthmatics reported symptoms from eating hazelnut, followed by other nuts, birch-related foods, milk, peanut and shellfish. Furthermore, adults with asthma experienced significantly more often gastrointestinal symptoms from hazelnut, apple and milk and were found to significantly more often be sensitized to the most common foods compared to the non-asthmatic subjects. The asthmatics showed a significant correlation between IgE to both hazelnut and birch and self-reported symptoms after ingestion of hazelnut and to a lesser extent to almonds. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of self-reported adverse reactions and sensitization to the most common foods was much higher among the asthmatic subjects. Hazelnut was the food that asthmatics most frequently experienced adverse reactions from, and the strong correlation between IgE to hazelnut and birch indicate that the observed adverse reactions are partly due to sensitization to allergens from the PR-10 family.

Soybean beta-conglycinin as the main allergen in a patient with food-dependent exercise-induced anaphylaxis by tofu: food processing alters pepsin resistance.

BACKGROUND: Food-dependent exercise-induced anaphylaxis (FDEIA) due to soybeans is a rare disorder. The allergen responsible for FDEIA due to soybeans has not yet been determined. OBJECTIVE: We characterized the clinical features of a patient with FDEIA due to tofu, who was well tolerant to drinking soy milk. We then sought to identify the responsible soybean allergen(s) in that patient. We further studied whether different stabilities of the allergen(s) to pepsin digestion between two soybean products are related to their clinical allergenicity. METHODS: Skin prick tests and provocation tests using soybean products were performed to detect the responsible food and other factors that induced the allergic symptoms. Specific IgE to various soybean allergens were examined by ImmunoCAP, ELISA and protein microarray assays. Immunoblotting for soybeans and soybean products using the patient's serum was also performed. Soybean products were serially digested by pepsin to disclose the stability of the allergens. RESULTS: Provocation with ingestion of tofu and exercise induced the allergic symptoms, while ingestion of soy milk and exercise did not. Immunoblot analysis, ELISA and protein microarray assay revealed that beta-conglycinin mainly reacts with IgE antibodies in the patient's serum. By immunoblot analysis, beta-conglycinin in soy milk completely disappeared after pepsin digestion within 20 min, whereas beta-conglycinin in tofu was almost intact after more than 120 min of pepsin digestion. CONCLUSION: We identified beta-conglycinin as the causative allergen in a patient with FDEIA induced by tofu. The difference in resistance to pepsin digestion between tofu and soy milk suggests that the presence of undigested allergens in the digestive tract is a prerequisite for the development of FDEIA.

Intranasal immunisation with influenza-ISCOM induces strong mucosal as well as systemic antibody and cytotoxic T-lymphocyte responses.

Intranasal administration of vaccines is preferred for induction of mucosal immune responses. In this study, mice were immunised intranasally and subcutaneously with influenza-immuno stimulating complexes (influenza-ISCOM). The intranasal dose was 15-times the subcutaneous dose. All mice dosed with influenza-ISCOMs survived challenge with live virus and comparable serum antibody and splenic cytotoxic T-lymphocyte responses were detected in both groups. Induction of mucosal IgA was significantly higher with intranasal immunisation and was comparable to responses induced with the heat labile enterotoxin of Escherichia coli as adjuvant. These findings demonstrate that intranasal administration of high dose influenza-ISCOM results in potent systemic and mucosal immune responses.

Questionnaire versus direct technical measurements in assessing postures and movements of the head, upper back, arms and hands.

OBJECTIVES: This study compares questionnaire-assessed exposure data on work postures and movements with direct technical measurements. METHODS: Inclinometers and goniometers were used to make full workday measurements of 41 office workers and 41 cleaners, stratified for such factors as musculoskeletal complaints. The subjects answered a questionnaire on work postures of the head, back, and upper arms and repeated movements of the arms and hands (3-point scales). The questionnaire had been developed on the basis of a previously validated one. For assessing worktasks and their durations, the subjects kept a 2-week worktask diary. Job exposure was individually calculated by time-weighting the task exposure measurements according to the diary. RESULTS: The agreement between the self-assessed and measured postures and movements was low (kappa = 0.06 for the mean within the occupational groups and kappa = 0.27 for the whole group). Cleaners had a higher measured workload than office workers giving the same questionnaire response. Moreover, the subjects with neck-shoulder complaints rated their exposure to movements as higher than those without complaints but with the same measured mechanical exposure. In addition, these subjects also showed a general tendency to rate their postural exposure as higher. The women rated their exposure higher than the men did. CONCLUSIONS: The questionnaire-assessed exposure data had low validity. For the various response categories the measured exposure depended on occupation. Furthermore, there was a differential misclassification due to musculoskeletal complaints and gender. Thus it seems difficult to construct valid questionnaires on mechanical exposure for establishing generic exposure-response relations in epidemiologic studies, especially cross-sectional ones. Direct technical measurements may be preferable.

Singing birds, playing cats, and babbling babies: why do they do It?

Rarely, animals do what they do because they are aware of the function of the behaviour or its outcome. Instead, they will very often perform behaviour out of context, spontaneously, as play. The impression (strengthened by introspection in the human species) is that they do it because they get some kind of internal reward. Nevertheless, such seemingly meaningless behaviour may have an ultimate function to adjust behavioural programs to the body, to practice, to perfect the execution of the behaviour. If the proximate reason for doing what the animal does may be to attain a pleasurable state, the ultimate, evolutionary reason may still be that increased practice will give some gain in fitness. If one presupposes internal rewarding and punishing systems as intervening factors, it becomes much simpler to explain why birds sing, kittens play or babies babble without any outer reward and out of any functional context, more than needed from a strictly functional view, spontaneously and just for the fun of it.

On the evolution of reality--some biological prerequisites and evolutionary stages.

The discussion of the evolutionary origins of consciousness has largely been concentrated to the human mind, and it is only in recent years that a comparative ethological view has come into play. Even here, a tendency has been to look mainly at the primates. There is a vast literature that discusses the differences between human consciousness and cognition, compared with that of the other primates, but much less attention has been given to the fact that evolutionary gaps-fulgurations, emergencies, new systems-have occurred at many stages in the evolution of cognition. More especially, the complexity of rather simple cognitive systems in lower animals has been underestimated, as well as the necessary prerequisites for a cognition worthy of the name to exist. Of particular interest in the discussion has been the views from evolutionary epistemology and radical constructivism, since they support the ethologically founded view that mind representations do not depict reality, but are adaptations for a successful way of behaving in the physical world, that reality in this sense is in the mind, that there are many realities, varying for different species-rich or poor in complexity-but all of them basically of the same nature. Even such human achievements as mathematics or logic may thus be seen as specific cognitive adaptions in our species, not as independent aspects of the physical world.

On the Evolution of Reality-Some Biological Prerequisites and Evolutionary Stages

The discussion of the evolutionary origins of consciousness has largely been concentrated to the human mind, and it is only in recent years that a comparative ethological view has come into play. Even here, a tendency has been to look mainly at the primates. There is a vast literature that discusses the differences between human consciousness and cognition, compared with that of the other primates, but much less attention has been given to the fact that evolutionary gaps-fulgurations, emergences, new systems-have occurred at many stages in the evolution of cognition. More especially, the complexity of rather simple cognitive systems in lower animals has been underestimated, as well as the necessary prerequisites for a cognition worthy of the name to exist. Of particular interest in the discussion has been the views from evolutionary epistemology and radical constructivism, since they support the ethologically founded view that mind representations do not depict reality, but are adaptations for a successful way of behaving in the physical world, that reality in this sense is in the mind, that there are many realities, varying for different species-rich or poor in complexity-but all of them basically of the same nature. Even such human achievements as mathematics or logic thus may be seen as specific cognitive adaptions in our species, not as independent aspects of the physical world. Copyright 1997 Academic Press Limited

Influence of N-linked glycans in V4-V5 region of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 glycoprotein gp160 on induction of a virus-neutralizing humoral response.

One of the functions of N-linked glycans of viral glycoproteins is protecting otherwise accessible neutralization epitopes of the viral envelope from neutralizing antibodies. The aim of the present study was to explore the possibility to obtain a more broadly neutralizing immune response by immunizing guinea pigs with gp160 depleted of three N-linked glycans in the CD4-binding domain by site-directed mutagenesis. Mutant and wild type gp160 were formulated into immunostimulating complexes and injected s.c. into guinea pigs. Both preparations induced high serum antibody response to native gp120 and V3 peptides. Both preparations also induced antibodies that bound equally well to the V3 loop or the CD4-binding region, as determined by a competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The sera from animals, immunized with mutated glycoprotein, did not neutralize nonrelated HIV strains better than did sera from animals, immunized with wild type glycoprotein. Instead, a pattern of preferred homologous neutralization was observed, i.e., sera from animals, immunized with mutant gp160, neutralized mutant virus better than wild type virus, and vice versa. These data indicated that elimination of the three N-linked glycans from gp160 resulted in an altered local antigenic conformation but did not uncover hidden neutralization epitopes, broadening the immune response.

Induction of homologous virus neutralizing antibodies in guinea-pigs immunized with two human immunodeficiency virus type 1 glycoprotein gp120-iscom preparations. A comparison with other adjuvant systems.

The immunogenicity in guinea-pigs of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 envelope glycoprotein gp120 in immune stimulating complex (iscom) was compared to that of gp120 adjuvanted with QuilA-matrix (iscom without attached antigen), aluminium hydroxide (alum) and the Ribi adjuvant system. Gp120 was either incorporated into iscoms by covalent conjugation (iscom(c)) or by acid treatment of gp120 (iscom(a) and both these preparations induced high ELISA antibody titres to gp120. Virus neutralizing (VN) antibodies were most frequently induced by gp120 in iscom(c), iscom(a) or in alum and correlated to high titres to the V3-region of gp120. Further, antibodies induced by gp120-iscom(c) most efficiently inhibited binding of a VN monoclonal antibody GP13 to the CD4 binding region of gp120 whereas gp120-iscom(a) induced the highest mean titre of antibodies blocking the binding of [125I]gp120 to CD4. These results suggest that the gp120-iscom preparations efficiently induced high levels of gp120 specific antibodies and that the adjuvant formulation of gp120 affect the specificity and functional properties of elicited antibodies.

N-linked glycans in the CD4-binding domain of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 envelope glycoprotein gp160 are essential for the in vivo priming of T cells recognizing an epitope located in their vicinity.

Deglycosylation of viral glycoproteins has been suggested to influence the number of available T cell determinants and to increase T cell recognition of antigens. In this study, we have investigated whether T cell responses to the HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein gp160 were influenced by deletion of three N-glycans of the protein. Wild type (wt) and a mutated form of gp160 (gp160A123) lacking the three N-glycans in the C-terminal CD4-binding region efficiently induced antigen-specific T cell responses in mice of the H-2b, H-2d, and H-2k haplotypes. Further, T cells primed by either wt gp160 or gp160A123 were stimulated in vitro to a similar extent by the homologous and heterologous protein, indicating that deletion of the glycans did not affect the overall immunogenicity and antigenicity of gp160A123. Wild-type gp160 and gp160A123 induced comparable T cell responses to those of epitopes which with respect to the secondary structure of gp160 were distant from the deleted glycans. However, in mice of the H-2b haplotype, wt gp160 primed T cells which responded in vitro to a peptide containing one of the deleted N-glycosylation sites (Asn448), whereas T cells induced by gp160A123 were unable to recognize this peptide. Thus, deletion of the glycans abrogated the in vivo priming of T cells recognizing an epitope in close proximity to the deletion sites. Furthermore, enzymatically deglycosylated gp160 failed to induce a T cell response to this epitope. These results indicate that the in vivo generation of certain T cell determinants from glycoproteins is dependent on the glycosylation of the protein.

Integrated fluid handling system for biomolecular interaction analysis.

An integrated fluid handling system used for multichannel biomolecular interaction analysis is described. Reactions between biological molecules are monitored in real time by measuring changes in the angular position where surface plasmon resonance occurs at a biospecific active surface. The adsorption efficiency of the analyte onto the biospecific active surface is up to approximately 3%, due to the low channel height, 50 microns, in the flow cell. When a large part of the total biospecific active surface for surface plasmon resonance probing (approximately 0.15 mm2) is used, the sensitivity is high. Sample sizes in the order of 1-50 microL can be injected. The sample zone dispersion is minimized by the low dead volume in the system (approximately 0.4 microL) accomplished by using integrated sample loops and thin conduits. An asset of this integration is the low reagent consumption. The sensor chip with the biospecific active surface is reusable and easily exchanged. Experimental results obtained with a theophylline monoclonal antibody as the analyte are compared with a theoretical model. The standard deviation for the repeatability is approximately 5% typically with 50 microL of 250 pM analyte, and the assay time is 10 min. The detection limit is approximately 10 pg of the analyte on the probed spot of the surface. Possible improvements of the sensitivity and detection limit are discussed.

Relative cost of coronary angioplasty and bypass surgery in a one-vessel disease model.

A national study was carried out to determine the relative costs of PTCA and CABG. Baseline clinical criteria for the 2 groups were similar. Data were collected in 186 sets for the PTCA group and 175 sets for the CABG group. Male patients make up 81% of the PTCA group and 80% of the CABG group. Mean hospital stay was 12 +/- 5 days in the CABG group, compared with 4 +/- 2 days in the PTCA group (p less than 0.001). The base charges for hospital and professional components of the CABG procedure were $15,580 +/- $2,159, whereas the same charges for the PTCA procedure were $5,315 +/- $2,159 (p less than 0.001). With an 80% primary success rate, which was the group mean success rate, the average dollar savings per PTCA procedure would be $7,149, or $7,149,000 per 1,000 cases. Thus, PTCA for revascularization in 1-vessel CAD is significantly more cost-effective than CABG in the short term.

A computer model of the left ventricular epicardial surface for quantification of jeopardized myocardium.

A computer program has been developed that can be used to quantify the extent of probable myocardial damage which will result from occlusion of a jeopardized coronary vessel. The program, used as an adjunct to coronary arteriography, permits calculation of an area of an arbitrary segment of the left ventricular epicardial surface. This segmental area, when expressed as a fraction of the total LV epicardial area, is a measure of the myocardial mass supplied by a specific coronary arterial vessel. The computer program has been extended to include graphic, three-dimensional simulation of different views of the left ventricular epicardium.

Influence of previous experience on the mate selection of two colour morphs of the convict cichlid, Cichlasoma nigrofasciatum (Pisces, Cichlidae).

In a pilot test, individuals of two colour morphs of Cichlasoma nigrofasciatum showed colour preferences in their schooling behaviour according to previous experience. Two further experiments were undertaken to investigate if such experientially induced preferences could reflect on the choice of mate. In one experiment white males who had been reared differently with regard to the colour morph of parents and siblings were given females of the different colour morphs (white and normal) to choose from, the females being successively removed after pairing to induce further choices. In this test, however, the males predominantly chose normal females, probably because of dominance relationships among the females, which masked a possible colour preference. Instead, a free choice test was devised, where 74 white and 74 normal fishes were allowed to pair off freely in a large tank. Here, a statistically significant sexual preference for the previously experienced colour morph was found. These results, as well as the possible evolutionary consequences, are discussed.