Articles

Chitinase 3-like-1 is produced by human Th17 cells and correlates with the level of inflammation in juvenile idiopathic arthritis patients

CHI3L1 is a chitinase-like protein without enzymatic activity, produced by activated macrophages, chondrocytes, neutrophils. Recent studies on arthritis, asthma, and inflammatory bowel diseases suggest that ch...

Authors: Manuela Capone, Laura Maggi, Veronica Santarlasci, Maria Caterina Rossi, Alessio Mazzoni, Gianni Montaini, Rolando Cimaz, Matteo Ramazzotti, Marie Pierre Piccinni, Giusi Barra, Raffaele De Palma, Francesco Liotta, Enrico Maggi, Sergio Romagnani, Francesco Annunziato and Lorenzo Cosmi

HIV-1 Nef promotes migration and chemokine synthesis of human basophils and mast cells through the interaction with CXCR4

The Nef protein can be detected in plasma of HIV-1-infected patients and plays a role in the pathogenesis of HIV-1. Nef produced during the early stages of infection is fundamental in creating the ideal enviro...

Authors: Francesca Wanda Rossi, Nella Prevete, Felice Rivellese, Antonio Lobasso, Filomena Napolitano, Francescopaolo Granata, Carmine Selleri and Amato de Paulis

Dose-dependence of protection from systemic reactions to venom immunotherapy by omalizumab

Systemic reactions (SR) to venom immunotherapy (VIT) are rare but may occur, with a rate significantly higher for honeybee than for vespid VIT. In patients with repeated SRs to VIT it is difficult to reach the...

Authors: Elisa Boni, Cristoforo Incorvaia and Marina Mauro

Mastocytosis and systemic sclerosis: a clinical association

Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a complex autoimmune disease characterized by vascular alterations and autoimmune activation leading to widespread organ fibrosis. At the early stage of disease when organ involveme...

Authors: Gianluca Bagnato, William Neal Roberts, Davide Sciortino, Donatella Sangari, Santa Cirmi, Roneka L. Ravenell, Michele Navarra, Gianfilippo Bagnato and Sebastiano Gangemi

Burden of allergic respiratory disease: a systematic review

This meta-analysis compared the health-related quality of life (HRQL) of patients with allergic rhinitis (AR) and/or allergic asthma (AA) caused by perennial house dust mite (HDM) versus AR and/or AA caused by...

Authors: A. Linneberg, K. Dam Petersen, J. Hahn-Pedersen, E. Hammerby, N. Serup-Hansen and N. Boxall

How pregnancy can affect autoimmune diseases progression?

Autoimmune disorders are characterized by tissue damage, caused by self-reactivity of different effectors mechanisms of the immune system, namely antibodies and T cells. Their occurrence may be associated with...

Authors: Marie-Pierre Piccinni, Letizia Lombardelli, Federica Logiodice, Ornela Kullolli, Paola Parronchi and Sergio Romagnani

Unmet diagnostic needs in contact oral mucosal allergies

The oral mucosa including the lips is constantly exposed to several noxious stimuli, irritants and allergens. However, oral contact pathologies are not frequently seen because of the relative resistance of the...

Authors: Paola Lucia Minciullo, Giovanni Paolino, Maddalena Vacca, Sebastiano Gangemi and Eustachio Nettis

Drug induced exfoliative dermatitis: state of the art

Drug induced exfoliative dermatitis (ED) are a group of rare and severe drug hypersensitivity reactions (DHR) involving skin and usually occurring from days to several weeks after drug exposure. Erythema multi...

Authors: Mona-Rita Yacoub, Alvise Berti, Corrado Campochiaro, Enrico Tombetti, Giuseppe Alvise Ramirez, Andrea Nico, Elisabetta Di Leo, Paola Fantini, Maria Grazia Sabbadini, Eustachio Nettis and Giselda Colombo

Pilot study: assessing the clinical diagnosis of allergy in atopic children using a microarray assay in addition to skin prick testing and serum specific IgE

Children with atopic dermatitis (AD) are at risk of developing allergy. Alongside clinical history, testing modalities include skin prick tests (SPT), specific immunoglobulin-E (sp-IgE) and recently, microarra...

Authors: Ru-Xin Foong, Graham Roberts, Adam Tobias Fox and George du Toit

Vitamin D3 improves the effects of low dose Der p 2 allergoid treatment in Der p 2 sensitized BALB/c mice

Airborne allergens can induce an immunological chronic disease characterized by airway hyper responsiveness and inflammation, mediated by exaggerated Th2 immune response. Allergen-specific immunotherapy (AIT) ...

Authors: Claudia Petrarca, Emanuela Clemente, Valentina Amato, Alessia Gatta, Sara Cortese, Alessia Lamolinara, Cosmo Rossi, Stefania Zanotta, Gianni Mistrello, Roberto Paganelli and Mario Di Gioacchino

Thrombotic risk assessment in antiphospholipid syndrome: the role of new antibody specificities and thrombin generation assay

Antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) is an autoimmune condition characterized by the presence of antiphospholipid antibodies (aPL) in subjects presenting with thrombosis and/or pregnancy loss. The currently used cl...

Authors: Savino Sciascia, Simone Baldovino, Karen Schreiber, Laura Solfietti, Massimo Radin, Maria J. Cuadrado, Elisa Menegatti, Doruk Erkan and Dario Roccatello

Appropriateness in allergic respiratory diseases health care in Italy: definitions and organizational aspects

In a historical period in which sustainability of the National Health Service is mandatory because of the international economical situation, the limited available resources at national level and the tendency ...

Authors: Carlo Lombardi, Eleonora Savi, Maria Teresa Costantino, Enrico Heffler, Manlio Milanese, Giovanni Passalacqua and Giorgio Walter Canonica

Quality of life in patients with food allergy

Food allergy has increased in developed countries and can have a dramatic effect on quality of life, so as to provoke fatal reactions. We aimed to outline the socioeconomic impact that food allergy exerts in t...

Authors: Darío Antolín-Amérigo, Luis Manso, Marco Caminati, Belén de la Hoz Caballer, Inmaculada Cerecedo, Alfonso Muriel, Mercedes Rodríguez-Rodríguez, José Barbarroja-Escudero, María José Sánchez-González, Beatriz Huertas-Barbudo and Melchor Alvarez-Mon

Comparing the ability of molecular diagnosis and CAP-inhibition in identifying the really causative venom in patients with positive tests to Vespula and Polistes species

Cross-reactivity among Hymenoptera venoms is an important issue when prescribing venom immunotherapy (VIT). Using all venoms eliciting a positive response results in treatment excess and unjustified cost incre...

Authors: Eleonora Savi, Silvia Peveri, Elena Makri, Valerio Pravettoni and Cristoforo Incorvaia

Skin microbiota of first cousins affected by psoriasis and atopic dermatitis

Psoriasis and atopic dermatitis (AD) are chronic inflammatory skin diseases, which negatively influence the quality of life. In the last years, several evidences highlighted the pivotal role of skin bacteria ...

Authors: Lorenzo Drago, Roberta De Grandi, Gianfranco Altomare, Paolo Pigatto, Oliviero Rossi and Marco Toscano

Interleukin-17-producing decidual CD4+ T cells are not deleterious for human pregnancy when they also produce interleukin-4

Trophoblast expressing paternal HLA-C antigens resemble a semiallograft, and could be rejected by maternal CD4+ T lymphocytes. We examined the possible role in human pregnancy of Th17 cells, known to be involv...

Authors: Letizia Lombardelli, Federica Logiodice, Maryse Aguerre-Girr, Ornela Kullolli, Herman Haller, Ysabel Casart, Alain Berrebi, Fatima-Ezzahra L’Faqihi-Olive, Valérie Duplan, Sergio Romagnani, Enrico Maggi, Daniel Rukavina, Philippe Le Bouteiller and Marie-Pierre Piccinni

Erratum to: Guidelines for the use and interpretation of diagnostic methods in adult food allergy

Authors: Donatella Macchia, Giovanni Melioli, Valerio Pravettoni, Eleonora Nucera, Marta Piantanida, Marco Caminati, Corrado Campochiaro, Mona-Rita Yacoub, Domenico Schiavino, Roberto Paganelli and Mario Di Gioacchino

Determinants of venom-specific IgE antibody concentration during long-term wasp venom immunotherapy

Venom immunotherapy (VIT) is an effective treatment for subjects with systemic allergic reactions (SR) to Hymenoptera stings, however there are few studies concerning the relevance of the venom specific IgE ch...

Authors: Valerio Pravettoni, Marta Piantanida, Laura Primavesi, Stella Forti and Elide A. Pastorello

Different co-sensitizations could determine different risk assessment in peach allergy? Evaluation of an anaphylactic biomarker in Pru p 3 positive patients

In Italy, the nsLTP (Pru p 3) has been identified as the most frequent cause of food allergy and anaphylaxis. In order to estimate the risk assessment in peach allergy, we investigated the presence of correlat...

Authors: Carina Gabriela Uasuf, Danilo Villalta, Maria Elisabetta Conte, Caterina Di Sano, Maria Barrale, Vincenzo Cantisano, Elisabetta Pace, Mark Gjomarkaj, Sebastiano Gangemi and Ignazio Brusca

Choosing wisely in Allergology: a Slow Medicine approach to the discipline promoted by the Italian Society of Allergy, Asthma and Clinical Immunology (SIAAIC)

One of the main problem health care systems are facis is the mis-use and over-use of medical resources (including useless exams, surgical interventions, medical treatments, screening procedures…) which may lea...

Authors: Enrico Heffler, Massimo Landi, Silvana Quadrino, Cristoforo Incorvaia, Stefano Pizzimenti, Sandra Vernero, Nunzio Crimi, Giovanni Rolla and Giorgio Walter Canonica

Asthma under/misdiagnosis in primary care setting: an observational community-based study in Italy

Published data suggest that asthma is significantly under/misdiagnosed. The present community-based study performed in Italy aims at investigating the level of asthma under/misdiagnosis among patients referrin...

Authors: Maria Sandra Magnoni, Marco Caminati, Gianenrico Senna, Fabio Arpinelli, Andrea Rizzi, Anna Rita Dama, Michele Schiappoli, Germano Bettoncelli and Gaetano Caramori

MDA5-positive dermatomyositis: an uncommon entity in Europe with variable clinical presentations

Clinically amyopathic dermatomyositis (CADM), described almost 50 years ago, is defined on the basis of still not validated criteria and characterized by skin findings almost without muscle weakness. Autoantib...

Authors: Paola Parronchi, Anna Radice, Boaz Palterer, Francesco Liotta and Cristina Scaletti

Risk of anaphylaxis in patients with large local reactions to hymenoptera stings: a retrospective and prospective study

In the few studies available, the risk of developing systemic reactions (SR) to hymenoptera stings in patients with previous large local reactions (LLRs) to stings ranges from 0 to 7 %. We evaluated both retro...

Authors: Stefano Pucci, Simona D’Alò, Tiziana De Pasquale, Ilenia Illuminati, Elena Makri and Cristoforo Incorvaia

360 degree perspective on allergic rhinitis management in Italy: a survey of GPs, pharmacists and patients

General practitioners (GPs), community pharmacists and allergic rhinitis (AR) patients in Italy were surveyed in order to gain insight from all three perspectives into the diagnosis, management and burden of A...

Authors: G. Walter Canonica, Massimo Triggiani and GianEnrico Senna

AIT (allergen immunotherapy): a model for the “precision medicine”

The interpretation of medical approaches, especially therapy, evolved rapidly in the last century. Starting from the simple description of symptoms, we moved to the pathophysiological descriptions, to the evid...

Authors: Giovanni Passalacqua and Giorgio Walter Canonica

Guidelines for the use and interpretation of diagnostic methods in adult food allergy

Food allergy has an increasing prevalence in the general population and in Italy concerns 8 % of people with allergies. The spectrum of its clinical manifestations ranges from mild symptoms up to potentially f...

Authors: Donatella Macchia, Giovanni Melioli, Valerio Pravettoni, Eleonora Nucera, Marta Piantanida, Marco Caminati, Corrado Campochiaro, Mona-Rita Yacoub, Domenico Schiavino, Roberto Paganelli and Mario Di Gioacchino

Biomarkers and severe asthma: a critical appraisal

Severe asthma (SA) is a clinically and etiologically heterogeneous respiratory disease which affects among 5–10 % of asthmatic patients. Despite high-dose therapy, a large patients percentage is not fully cont...

Authors: Alessandra Chiappori, Laura De Ferrari, Chiara Folli, Pierluigi Mauri, Anna Maria Riccio and Giorgio Walter Canonica

Are atopy and eosinophilic bronchial inflammation associated with relapsing forms of chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps?

The aetiopathogenesis of chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (CRSwNP) is still unknown. The role of atopy and the concept of united airways in such patients are still a matter of debate. In this pilot stu...

Authors: Mona-Rita Yacoub, Matteo Trimarchi, George Cremona, Sara Dal Farra, Giuseppe Alvise Ramirez, Valentina Canti, Emanuel Della Torre, Mattia Baldini, Patrizia Pignatti, Mario Bussi, Maria Grazia Sabbadini, Angelo A Manfredi and Giselda Colombo

Rituximab in refractory sarcoidosis: a single centre experience

Sarcoidosis is a granulomatous disease whose outcome varies from spontaneous remission to chronic refractory disease. Provided that steroids represent the gold standard as a first line treatment, many immune s...

Authors: Francesco Cinetto, Nicolò Compagno, Riccardo Scarpa, Giacomo Malipiero and Carlo Agostini

Escaping the trap of allergic rhinitis

Rhinitis is often the first symptom of allergy but is frequently ignored and classified as a nuisance condition. Ironically it has the greatest socioeconomic burden worldwide caused by its impact on work and o...

Authors: Oliviero Rossi, Ilaria Massaro, Marco Caminati, Cristina Quecchia, Filippo Fassio, Enrico Heffler and Giorgio Walter Canonica

TL1A/DR3 axis involvement in the inflammatory cytokine network during pulmonary sarcoidosis

TNF-like ligand 1A (TL1A), a recently recognized member of the TNF superfamily, and its death domain receptor 3 (DR3), firstly identified for their relevant role in T lymphocyte homeostasis, are now well-known...

Authors: M. Facco, A. Cabrelle, F. Calabrese, A. Teramo, F. Cinetto, S. Carraro, V. Martini, F. Calzetti, N. Tamassia, M. A. Cassatella, G. Semenzato and C. Agostini

The perception of allergen-specific immunotherapy among pediatricians in the primary care setting

Allergic respiratory diseases are constantly increasing in prevalence. Allergen Immunotherapy (AIT) represent a valuable therapeutic tool as symptomatic and preventative approach, expecially in children. In It...

Authors: Massimo Landi, Paolo Meglio, Ermanno Praitano, Carlo Lombardi, Giovanni Passalacqua and Giorgio Walter Canonica

Perianal Crohn’s disease and hidradenitis suppurativa: a possible common immunological scenario

Crohn’s disease (CD) and Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) are both chronic inflammatory diseases. The pathogenesis of these diseases is multifactorial, due to the interaction of genetic and environmental factors ...

Authors: Francesco Giudici, Laura Maggi, Raffaella Santi, Lorenzo Cosmi, Cristina Scaletti, Francesco Annunziato, Gabriella Nesi, Giusi Barra, Gabrio Bassotti, Raffaele De Palma and Francesco Tonelli

Engineered metal based nanoparticles and innate immunity

Almost all people in developed countries are exposed to metal nanoparticles (MeNPs) that are used in a large number of applications including medical (for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes). Once inside the ...

Authors: Claudia Petrarca, Emanuela Clemente, Valentina Amato, Paola Pedata, Enrico Sabbioni, Giovanni Bernardini, Ivo Iavicoli, Sara Cortese, Qiao Niu, Takemi Otsuki, Roberto Paganelli and Mario Di Gioacchino

Erratum: Prevalence of positive atopy patch test in an unselected pediatric population

Authors: Nicola Fuiano, Giuliana Diddi, Maurizio Delvecchio and Cristoforo Incorvaia

Prevalence of perennial severe allergic asthma in Italy and effectiveness of omalizumab in its management: PROXIMA – an observational, 2 phase, patient reported outcomes study

We designed the PROXIMA study (Patient-Reported Outcomes and Xolair^® In the Management of Asthma) to determine the proportion of patients with severe asthma sensitive to perennial allergens, and to evaluate asthm...

Authors: Giorgio Walter Canonica, Marta Bartezaghi, Raffaele Marino and Laura Rigoni

Identification of risk factors of severe hypersensitivity reactions in general anaesthesia

Hypersensitivity reactions to anaesthetic agents are rare but often severe, with a mortality ranging from 4 to 9% in IgE-mediated events. Identification of the risk factors may contribute to limit the incidenc...

Authors: Corrado Mirone, Donatella Preziosi, Ambra Mascheri, Gianluigi Micarelli, Laura Farioli, Luca G Balossi, Joseph Scibilia, Jan Schroeder, Laura M Losappio, Maria G Aversano, Chrysi Stafylaraki, Michele Nichelatti and Elide A Pastorello

Choosing wisely: practical considerations on treatment efficacy and safety of asthma in the elderly

The prevalence of asthma in the most advanced ages is similar to that of younger ages. However, the concept that older individuals may suffer from allergic asthma has been largely denied in the past, and a com...

Authors: Nicola Scichilone, Maria T Ventura, Matteo Bonini, Fulvio Braido, Caterina Bucca, Marco Caminati, Stefano Del Giacco, Enrico Heffler, Carlo Lombardi, Andrea Matucci, Manlio Milanese, Roberto Paganelli, Giovanni Passalacqua, Vincenzo Patella, Erminia Ridolo, Giovanni Rolla…

T helper cell mediated-tolerance towards fetal allograft in successful pregnancy

Trophoblast HLA-C antigens from paternal origins, which liken the trophoblast to a semiallograft, could be presented by the maternal APCs to the specific maternal CD4+ T helper cells, which could release vario...

Authors: Marie-Pierre Piccinni, Letizia Lombardelli, Federica Logiodice, Ornela Kullolli, Sergio Romagnani and Philippe Le Bouteiller

Serum tryptase detected during acute coronary syndrome is significantly related to the development of major adverse cardiovascular events after 2 years

One of the greatest challenges in cardiovascular medicine is to define the best tools for performing an accurate risk stratification for the recurrence of ischemic events in acute coronary syndrome (ACS) patie...

Authors: Elide Anna Pastorello, Laura Farioli, Laura Michelina Losappio, Nuccia Morici, Matteo Di Biase, Michele Nichelatti, Jan Walter Schroeder, Luca Balossi and Silvio Klugmann

Pidotimod: the state of art

Despite the use of antibiotics and vaccines, the frequency of respiratory tract infections is still high and these infections interest a wide range of patients, from children to aged people, including in parti...

Authors: Beatrice E Ferrario, Silvia Garuti, Fulvio Braido and Giorgio W Canonica

European medicines agency guideline for biological medicinal products: a further step for a safe use of biosimilars

Authors: Carlo Agostini, Giorgio Walter Canonica and Enrico Maggi

Prevalence of positive atopy patch test in an unselected pediatric population

In the latest decades, epidemiological studies on allergic disorders in children, including atopic dermatitis, rhinitis and asthma, demonstrated a continuous increase in prevalence. However, such studies are u...

Authors: Nicola Fuiano, Giuliana Diddi, Maurizio Delvecchio and Cristoforo Incorvaia C

Welcome to a new era for Clinical and Molecular Allergy

Authors: Enrico Maggi

Evaluation of basophil allergen threshold sensitivity (CD-sens) to peanut and Ara h 8 in children IgE-sensitized to Ara h 8

Diagnosing peanut allergy properly is important and can be achieved by combining clinical history with various diagnostic methods such as IgE-antibody (IgE-ab) measurements, skin-prick test, basophil allergen ...

Authors: Susanne Glaumann, Caroline Nilsson, S G O Johansson, Anna Asarnoj, Magnus Wickman, Magnus P Borres and Anna Nopp

The perception of Obstructive Sleep Apnoea/Hypopnoea Syndrome (OSAHS) among Italian general practitioners

Obstructive Sleep Apnoea/Hypopnoea Syndrome (OSAHS) is a common disorder in the general population but often underestimated and underdiagnosed.

Authors: Carlo Lombardi, Eleonora Musicco, Germano Bettoncelli, Manlio Milanese, Gianenrico Senna, Fulvio Braido and Giorgio Walter Canonica

Bilastine: new insight into antihistamine treatment

Bilastine is a new second generation H1-antihistamine recently approved for the symptomatic treatment of allergic rhinitis (AR) and chronic urticaria (CU). Bilastine epitomizes the evolution of research on ant...

Authors: Erminia Ridolo, Marcello Montagni, Laura Bonzano, Cristoforo Incorvaia and Giorgio Walter Canonica

Remission of severe aphthous stomatitis of celiac disease with etanercept

Celiac disease is a common autoimmune disease triggered by gluten-containing foods (wheat, barley and rye) in genetically predisposed individuals. We present a patient with celiac disease complicated by severe...

Authors: Adey Hasan, Hiren Patel, Hana Saleh, George Youngberg, John Litchfield and Guha Krishnaswamy

The silent sinus syndrome: protean manifestations of a rare upper respiratory disorder revisited

Silent Sinus Syndrome (SSS) is known to be a rare clinical condition, characterized by spontaneous and progressive enophthalmos and hypoglobus associated with atelectasis of the maxillary sinus and alteration ...

Authors: Denisse E Guillen, Paulette M Pinargote and Juan C Guarderas

The retinoic acid receptor-α modulators ATRA and Ro415253 reciprocally regulate human IL-5+ Th2 cell proliferation and cytokine expression

Th2 cytokine responses are enhanced by all trans retinoic acid (ATRA), the bioavailable form of vitamin A. Retinoic acid receptor alpha (RARα) is the high affinity receptor for ATRA that mediates these pro-Th2...

Authors: Daniel L Wansley, Yuzhi Yin and Calman Prussin