Allergy, asthma and markers of infections among Albanian migrants to Southern Italy

BACKGROUND: Studies of immigrants represent an useful tool to determine the relative relevance of environmental vs genetic factors in causing the reported rapid increase of the prevalence of sensitization and allergic diseases. METHODS: A total of 152 Albanian migrants to Southern Italy responded to a questionnaire based on the European Community Respiratory Health Survey (ECRHS) and 139 of them underwent skin prick test, and 61 serological assays for total IgE and IgG antibodies against Toxoplasma gondii (TG), herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1), hepatitis A virus (HAV) and Helicobacter pylori (HP). RESULTS: Reported asthma was rare (2/152; 1.3%) and reported nasal allergies rather frequent (24/152; 15.8%). Sensitization to common inhalant allergens occurred in 27/139 (19.4%) subjects. The frequency of skin sensitization to pollen (P = 0.003) and that of hay fever (P = 0.004) increased with the time spent in Apulia. All the 61 sera had antibodies against HAV, 59/61 (96.7%) against HSV-1, 48/61 (78.7%) against HP and 34/61 (55.7%) against TG. The prevalence of skin sensitization and hay fever symptoms were correlated to the duration of residence in Southern Italy. CONCLUSIONS: Data presented indicate that Albanian migrants to Italy, in spite of the low prevalence of allergic diseases and sensitization in their country of origin, manifest with time an increasing prevalence of sensitization to local allergens and nasal symptoms after immigration to Italy. This would suggest a permanent role of allergen exposure and lifestyle factors in influencing the appearance of sensitization and symptoms of allergic diseases.     

Detection of bloodstream pathogens in a bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG)-vaccinated pediatric population in Malawi: a pilot study

Children in Malawi receive bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccination within the first 3 days of life. Thus, we hypothesized that Malawian children infected with the human immunodeficiency type 1 virus (HIV-1) might be particularly vulnerable to dissemination of the BCG Mycobacterium bovis strain with which they were vaccinated. Following informed consent by parents, we studied children admitted to a Malawi general hospital during the 1998 wet and dry seasons. Blood from cohorts of acutely ill children was cultured for bacteria, including mycobacteria, and fungi, and tested for anti-HIV-1 antibodies. It was shown that non- typhi Salmonella and Escherichia coli were the predominant bloodstream pathogens during the wet and dry seasons, and that bloodstream dissemination of the BCG M. bovis strain is uncommon in HIV-1-infected children who receive the BCG vaccine.     

Developmental regulation of type 1 and type 3 interferon production and risk for infant infections and asthma development

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High variability in viral load in cerebrospinal fluid from patients with herpes simplex and varicella-zoster infections of the central nervous system

Infections of the central nervous system (CNS) caused by herpes viruses can result in severe diseases, often with a fatal outcome. In this study, the viral load in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of patients with herpes simplex or varicella-zoster infections of the CNS was measured using a quantitative real-time PCR. The results suggest a high variability in viral load, with relatively mild disease associated with a high viral load in CSF and vice versa. Determination of the viral load in CSF does not therefore seem to be useful in assessing the prognosis of disease caused by these viruses.     

Effectiveness and limits of antimicrobial treatment on seminal leukocyte concentration and related reactive oxygen species production in patients with male accessory gland infection

To evaluate whether bacteriological cure, sperm outcome, spontaneous pregnancy rate and white blood cell (WBC)-related reactive oxygen species (ROS) production were related to the extent of the infection and to an intermittent and repetitive antimicrobial treatment, 122 patients with bacterial [>10(5) colony-forming units (CFU)/ml] male accessory gland infections (MAGI) were studied. According to ultrasound criteria, patients had prostatitis (PR, n = 52), prostatovesiculitis (PV, n = 32) or prostatovesiculoepididymitis (PVE, n = 38). Each group was further subdivided into two subsets: one subset (PR, n = 40; PV, n = 20; PVE, n = 25) was given ofloxacin or doxycycline for 14 consecutive days per month for 3 months; the other subset (PR, n = 12; PV, n = 12; PVE, n = 13) received no treatment. The female partners were also treated. All patients were evaluated before, during (1 and 3 months) and after (3 months) treatment. The bacteriological cure rate was the highest (92.5%) after the third antibiotic course in PR, followed by PV (70.4%), and the lowest in PVE (52.0%). At 3 months after therapy discontinuation, some sperm parameters, seminal WBC concentration and ROS generation (assessed in the 45% Percoll fraction) were ameliorated in PR and PV, whereas no improvement occurred in patients with PVE, except for the percentage of coiled tails. Antibiotic treatment in PR and PV patients led to positive effects on sperm output and spontaneous pregnancy rate (40%) by removing pro-oxidant noxae (microbial and/or WBC-related ROS production). The persistent infertility, dyspermia and sperm-derived ROS overproduction in PVE may relate to a significant percentage of antibiotic-independent re-infection and/or to low antioxidative epididymal properties, which persisted following antimicrobial treatment.     

Cluster analysis of antibiotic susceptibility patterns of clinical isolates as a tool in nosocomial infection surveillance

Hospital infections represent a major epidemiological problem. The first step in the detection of nosocomial infections consists in assessing the probability that two or more isolates from different patients are similar or different. Many methods are available for typing purposes. Among these, antibiotic susceptibility patterns do not need extra cost or extra work and are available on line every moment they are needed. A mathematical technique of elaboration is proposed for disk zone sizes, in order to assess the probability of two or more clinical isolates to be the same strain. Antibiograms performed according to Kirby-Bauer are evaluated detecting zone sizes by a computer controlled device and then submitted to cluster analysis. Similarity of strains is reported in a dendrogram, in which strains are successively fused. Strains that share a common susceptibility pattern are considered a cluster . At last, epidemiological maps are constructed for each group of strains, in which all the isolates are reported, ordered for patients, plotted on the day the specimen was collected, drawn in a different shape according to the source of specimen, and shadowed by the pattern of its cluster. This method of reporting data directly allows to detect cross infections among patients and can be used as a first typing step before other more expensive procedures.Corresponding author.     

Does Flavonoid Consumption Improve Exercise Performance? Is It Related to Changes in the Immune System and Inflammatory Biomarkers? A Systematic Review of Clinical Studies since 2005

Flavonoids are attracting increasing attention due to their antioxidant, cardioprotective, and immunomodulatory properties. Nevertheless, little is known about their role in exercise performance in association with immune function. This systematic review firstly aimed to shed light on the ergogenic potential of flavonoids. A search strategy was run using SCOPUS database. The returned studies were screened by prespecified eligibility criteria, including intervention lasting at least one week and performance objectively quantified, among others. Fifty-one studies (54 articles) met the inclusion criteria, involving 1288 human subjects, either physically untrained or trained. Secondly, we aimed to associate these studies with the immune system status. Seventeen of the selected studies (18 articles) assessed changes in the immune system. The overall percentage of studies reporting an improved exercise performance following flavonoid supplementation was 37%, the proportion being 25% when considering quercetin, 28% for flavanol-enriched extracts, and 54% for anthocyanins-enriched extracts. From the studies reporting an enhanced performance, only two, using anthocyanin supplements, focused on the immune system and found certain anti-inflammatory effects of these flavonoids. These results suggest that flavonoids, especially anthocyanins, may exert beneficial effects for athletes’ performances, although further studies are encouraged to establish the optimal dosage and to clarify their impact on immune status.     

Ketogenic Diet as a Preventive and Supportive Care for COVID-19 Patients

Severe obesity is associated with an increased risk of admission to intensive care units and need for invasive mechanical ventilation in patients with COVID-19. The association of obesity and COVID-19 prognosis may be related to many different factors, such as chronic systemic inflammation, the predisposition to severe respiratory conditions and viral infections. The ketogenic diet is an approach that can be extremely effective in reducing body weight and visceral fat in the short term, preserving the lean mass and reducing systemic inflammation. Therefore, it is a precious preventive measure for severely obese people and may be considered as an adjuvant therapy for patients with respiratory compromise.     

Vitamin D and Allergy Susceptibility during Gestation and Early Life

Worldwide, the prevalence of allergies in young children, but also vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy and in newborns is rising. Vitamin D modulates the development and activity of the immune system and a low vitamin D status during pregnancy and in early life might be associated with an increased risk to develop an allergy during early childhood. This review studies the effects of vitamin D during gestation and early life, on allergy susceptibility in infants. The bioactive form of vitamin D, 1,25(OH)2D, inhibits maturation and results in immature dendritic cells that cause a decreased differentiation of naive T cells into effector T cells. Nevertheless, the development of regulatory T cells and the production of interleukin-10 was increased. Consequently, a more tolerogenic immune response developed against antigens. Secondly, binding of 1,25(OH)2D to epithelial cells induces the expression of tight junction proteins resulting in enhanced epithelial barrier function. Thirdly, 1,25(OH)2D increased the expression of anti-microbial peptides by epithelial cells that also promoted the defense mechanism against pathogens, by preventing an invasive penetration of pathogens. Immune intervention by vitamin D supplementation can mitigate the disease burden from asthma and allergy. In conclusion, our review indicates that a sufficient vitamin D status during gestation and early life can lower the susceptibility to develop an allergy in infants although there remains a need for more causal evidence.