Allergy to the heat-labile proteins α-lactalbumin and β-lactoglobulin in mare’s milk

BACKGROUND: Allergy to mare’s milk is rare. Recently, however, mare’s milk has been recommended for treatment of various ailments by practitioners of “alternative medicine,” and it is available in health food stores. OBJECTIVE: We report a case of allergic reaction to mare’s milk in a 51-year-old woman who was able to tolerate cow’s milk. METHODS: The protein composition of mare’s milk was determined by methods based on measurement of nitrogen content. The patient underwent prick and intracutaneous tests with commercially available bovine milk proteins and several mare’s milk preparations, including mare’s milk granulate and boiled mare’s milk. RAST and immunoblotting were also performed. RESULTS: Results of skin testing and RAST with cow’s milk were negative but demonstrated an IgE-mediated allergy to mare’s milk. Immunoblotting revealed two allergen bands with molecular weights of 16 and 18 kd, most likely representing the whey proteins α-lactalbumin and β-lactoglobulin. The bands disappeared after the mare’s milk was boiled, indicating that the proteins are heat-labile. CONCLUSION: The results of this study demonstrate the existence of an IgE-mediated mare’s milk allergy caused by low molecular weight heat-labile proteins, most likely α-lactalbumin and β-lactoglobulin, which do not cross-react with the corresponding whey proteins in cow’s milk. (J ALLERGY CLIN IMMUNOL 1996;97:1304-7.)     

The microbiological quality of air improves when using air conditioning systems in cars

Background  

Because of better comfort, air conditioning systems are a common feature in automobiles these days. However, its impact on the number of particles and microorganisms inside the vehicle - and by this its impact on the risk of an allergic reaction - is yet unknown.     

Interpersonal distress as a mediator between avoidance goals and goal satisfaction in psychotherapy inpatients

Interpersonal behavior is assumed to be motivated by personal goals that an individual develops ontogenetically to satisfy and protect psychological needs. Interpersonal problems are hypothesized to (1) occur as a consequence of strong avoidance goals and (2) lead to decreased satisfaction of the person's approach goals. The hypotheses are tested using the self‐report data of 284 subjects with predominantly anxiety, affective and eating disorders who applied for treatment in a clinic offering inpatient cognitive–behavioral psychotherapy. Results indicate that interpersonal problems mediate the relationship between avoidance goals and the satisfaction of approach goals. Additional analyses explore specific associations between avoidance goals and certain kinds of interpersonal problem. Avoidance goals are then located within the interpersonal circle structure. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Influence of immunosuppressive drugs on the CD30 molecule in kidney transplanted patients

Background

Soluble CD30 (sCD30) is a suggested marker for kidney transplantation outcomes. We investigated whether sCD30 serum levels are influenced by immunosuppression and whether they correlate with findings in protocol biopsies and with CD30 gene expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC).

Physical Activity,Decision-Making Abilities,and Eating Disturbances in Pre- and Postbariatric Surgery Patients

Background

Physical activity (PA) is considered to have a beneficial influence on executive functioning, including decision-making. Enhanced decision-making after bariatric surgery may strengthen patients’ ability to delay gratification, helping to establish appropriate eating behavior. The objectives of this study were to (1) compare a preoperative group with a postoperative group with regard to daily PA, decision-making, and eating disturbances; and (2) investigate the relationship between these variables.

Methods

The study included 71 bariatric surgery candidates (55 % women, BMI [kg/m²] M?=?46.9, SD?=?6.0) and 73 postoperative patients (57 % women, BMI M?=?32.0, SD?=?4.1; 89 % Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, 11 % sleeve gastrectomy; months postoperative M?=?8.2, SD?=?3.5; total weight loss [%] M?=?33.2, SD?=?8.9) who completed SenseWear Pro₂ activity monitoring. Decision-making was assessed using a computerized version of the Iowa Gambling Task and eating disorder psychopathology using the Eating Disorder Examination-Questionnaire.

Results

The number of patients who were classified as physically inactive was similarly high in the pre- and postoperative groups. No group differences emerged with regard to decision-making, but the postoperative group exhibited less eating disturbances than the preoperative group. No significant associations were found between PA, decision-making, and eating behavior.

Conclusions

Patients after bariatric surgery were not more physically active than bariatric surgery candidates, which should be considered in care programs. Additionally, future research is needed to explore the possible link between PA, patients’ decision-making abilities, and eating disturbances concerning dose-response questions.

     

PET imaging with [<Superscript>18</Superscript>F]3′-deoxy-3′-fluorothymidine for prediction of response to neoadjuvant treatment in patients with rectal cancer

Purpose Positron emission tomography (PET) using ¹⁸F-labelled 3′-deoxy-3′-fluorothymidine (FLT) was assessed for therapy monitoring in patients with rectal cancer undergoing neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy. Methods Ten patients with locally advanced rectal cancer were included and underwent long-course preoperative chemoradiotherapy (total dose 45 Gy, 1.8 Gy/day, concomitant 250 mg/m² 5-fluorouracil) followed by surgery. FLT-PET was performed prior to chemoradiotherapy, 2 weeks after initiation of chemoradiotherapy and preoperatively (3–4 weeks post chemoradiotherapy). FLT uptake was correlated with histopathological tumour regression and changes in T stage. Results Mean tumour FLT uptake was 4.2±1.0 SUV before therapy and decreased significantly to 2.9 ± 0.6 SUV 14 days after initiation of chemoradiotherapy (−28.6% ± 10.7%, p = 0.005). The preoperative scan showed a further decrease to 1.9 ± 0.4 SUV (−54.7% ± 7.6%, p = 0.005). However, the degree of change in FLT uptake 2 weeks after initiation and after completion of neoadjuvant therapy did not correlate with histopathological tumour regression. Conclusion FLT-PET did not seem to be a promising method for assessment of tumour response in the studied chemoradiotherapy regimen in patients with rectal cancer.     

ATM missense variant P1054R predisposes to prostate cancer.

BACKGROUND: Prostate cancer is associated with defective DNA strand break repair after DNA damage leading to genetic instability and prostate cancer progression. The ATM (ataxia-telangiectasia mutated) gene product is known to play an important role in cell cycle regulation and maintenance of genomic integrity. We investigated whether the prevalence of the ATM missense substitution P1054R is increased in a hospital-based series of prostate cancer patients and whether carriers are at increased risk for treatment-related side effects. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A consecutive series of 261 patients treated for early-stage prostate cancer with I-125 brachytherapy (permanent seed implantation) between 10/2000 and 04/2006 at our institution and a comparison group of 460 male control individuals were screened for the presence of the P1054R variant. Outcome of therapy regarding morbidity was assessed prospectively and compared between carriers vs. non-carriers with the International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS), a Quality-of-Life-index (QoL) and the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF-15) with its subgroups (IIEF-5 and EF). RESULTS: The proportion of carriers of the P1054R variant was significantly higher among prostate cancer patients than in the general population (25 out of 261 vs. 22 out of 460; OR 2.1; 95% CI 1.2-3.8, p<0.01). A subgroup of the carriers additionally harboured the ATM missense variant F858L that was associated with a similar risk (OR=2.2; 95% CI 1.1-4.6; p=0.03). After a mean follow-up of 18 months there were no statistically significant differences regarding IPSS (p=0.48), QoL (p=0.61), IIEF-15 score (p=0.78), IIEF-5 score (p=0.83), and EF score (p=0.80), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The ATM missense variant P1054R confers an about twofold increased risk for prostate cancer in our series. The subgroup of patients with the second-site variant F858L is not at significantly higher risk. After 18 months, there was no evidence for an increased adverse radiotherapy response in P1054R carriers.     

Selective killing of B-cell hybridomas targeting proteinase 3, Wegener's autoantigen

Wegener's granulomatosis (WG) is a rare disease characterized by granulomatous lesions, small vessel vasculitis and the presence of anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic autoantibodies (C-ANCAs) in the sera of affected patients. Their main target antigen is proteinase 3 (PR3), a neutrophil and monocyte-derived neutral serine protease. Since the standard treatment of this severe autoimmune disease, with cyclophosphamide and corticosteroids, is associated with potential side-effects, the development of a more specific immunotherapeutic agent is warranted. The key role of ANCA in the pathogenesis of vasculitis and the effectiveness of anti-CD20 antibodies in patients with refractory WG points towards the importance of B cells in WG. We thus evaluated a new approach to selectively eliminate PR3-specific autoreactive B cells by targeting the B-cell receptor. For this purpose we used a bifunctional recombinant fusion protein consisting of the antigen PR3 and a toxin. The cytotoxic component of this novel fusion protein was the ribonuclease angiogenin, a human toxin with low immunogenicity. The toxin was stabilized by exchanging the catalytically relevant histidine in position 44 with glutamine to eliminate the autoproteolytic activity. PR3H44Q was fused either to the N terminus or to the C terminus of angiogenin. The recombinant proteins were expressed in 293T cells. Binding assays demonstrated the appropriate size and recognition by anti-PR3 antibodies. Using TUNEL technology, we demonstrated that these autoantigen toxins kill proteinase 3-specific B-cell hybridomas selectively by inducing apoptosis. The data indicate that autoantigen-toxins are promising tools in the treatment or co-treatment of autoimmune diseases in which the antigen is known.