Iranian Journal of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology
Volume:4 Issue: 3, Sep 2005

Basic research on the autoimmune disease multiple sclerosis has been performed mainly on its animal model namely experimental allergic encephalomyelitis. There are many different approaches established to get this model. Despite the existence of many references in literature in this regard, we have been faced with many difficulties generating the model suitable for studying different therapies. After a long time of challenging to get a reliable and replicable method, we came up with the following major points: First, the key element for getting a maximum number of sick animals at a defined time is to consider the most appropriate animal body weight (19-20 gr). Even though the age of immunized animals (6-8 week old) is highlighted in literature, we found out that body weight is of a greater importance. Secondly, because the only available susceptible mice strain in Iran is C57/BL6, the choice of peptide for immunization would be myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (35-55 sequence of this peptide 200 mg/animal). Finally, pertussis toxin which is a costly reagent plays a key role in stimulating the immune response. Altogether, we recommend that considering the above mentioned tricks and tracks, one would definitely be able to generate a chronic progressive type of model, for basic research on therapies of multiple sclerosis.

Lactoferrin (LF) has antimicrobial properties against bacteria, fungi and several viruses including herpes virus, HIV and hepatitis C virus.The aim of this study was to detect LF in PMNs and plasma of the patients suffering from hepatitis C and the healthy persons.The sonicated solutions of PMNs of two groups were evaluated by SDS-PAGE (10%), isoelectric focusing (30%) and dot blotting.The level of LF in plasma was measured by ELISA.The results confirmed the presence of LF in PMNs of the two groups. ELISA showed that the level of LF in plasma of patients was higher than normal persons.Based on these findings we conclude that not only the production of LF was not reduced in the patients but also its level was significantly increased compared with the normal persons(P<0.0001).

This study was conducted to measure cell-mediated immune response in healthy Epstein Barr virus (EBV)–seropositive individuals using a tissue culture "growth inhibition" assay (regression assay) where peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs) were tested for their ability to inhibit the outgrowth of the autologous lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCLs). Inhibition of the outgrowth of the autologous LCLs was seen after 4 weeks by the addition of PBLs from healthy EBV seropositive donors. The regression phenomenon was never seen when the donors of peripheral blood lymphocytes were EBV- seronegative. Regression assay showed that EBV- specific memory T cells were stable in healthy EBV seropositive over many years, which indicates the persistent nature of EBV infection.

Atopy can be defined as the genetically determined risk to develop allergic disease. Avoidance of one specific allergen may decrease the risk for sensitization against this allergen, but it will not affect atopy. Our aim was to investigate if exclusive breast-feeding is associated with atopic dermatitis during the first 5 years of life. Data on 200 children were taken from parental-administered questionnaires from a case control study in Birjand - Iran (recruited 2003) comprised of a case (100 children with atopic dermatitis) and a control (100 normal children) subgroup. Outcomes were physician-diagnosed atopic dermatitis (AD) and itchy rash. Data were analyzed by using SPSS package, Chi square and Exact Fisher tests.Thirty-four of the case and 50 of control group were exclusively breast-fed, whereas 6 of the case and 2 of control group were exclusively cow milk-fed. These differences were statistically significant. (P<0.05). Duration of breast-feeding in case and control group was different. These differences were statistically significant (P<0.001).Duration of cow’s milk formula feeding in case and control group was different, but these differences were not statistically significant. (P=0.6) Positive family history of allergy in case and control group was 63% and 23% respectively and this difference was statistically significant (P<0.001).These findings support the hypothesis that exclusive breast-feeding is a protective factor for development of atopic dermatitis if compared with conventional cow''s milk formula.

The aim of the present study was to examine the effects of a course of aerobic exercise on pulmonary function and tolerance of activity in asthmatic patients. Among the asthmatic patients, 36 patients (M= 16, F= 20) were chosen after clinical examinations, pulmonary function test, skin prick test (SPT) for aeroallergen and a six minute walk test (6MWT) on their own free will. A patient was said to have Exercise Induced Asthma (EIA) when he/she fulfilled the following criteria; (1) FEV1 < 80%, (2) 12% increase or more in FEV1 or PEF after short-acting ß2 agonist prescription and (3) 15% decrease in FEV1 or PEF after 6MWT with 70% or 80% of maximum heart rate. The patients were randomly put into two groups of case (M=8, F=10, Mean age=27) and control (M=8, F=10, Mean age=29). Case group participated in eight-week aerobic exercise plan, while control group had no plan of exercise. Pulmonary function tests were done before and after the course of exercise.There were significant changes in FEV1, FVC, PEF, FEF25-75%, MVV, RF and 6MWT between asthmatic patients of the two groups (P≤0.05), but FEV1/FVC showed no significant change. Mean of changes in FEV1, FVC, PEF, FEF25-75%, MVV, RF and 6MWT were –25.56, -17.19, 32.09, -27.93, -22.18, 5.63 and –307.5 in case group respectively while they were 6.2, 4.67, 1.96, 6.65, 15.56,-2.87 and 18.78 in the control group. This study shows that aerobic exercises in asthmatic patients lead to an improvement in pulmonary functions. Aerobic exercise rehabilitation can be a complement to medical treatment of asthma.

Atopic dermatitis is one of the most common allergic diseases that almost always respond to conventional therapies with topical emollient, topical corticosteroids, systemic antihistamines and allergic abstinence. However few cases of atopic dermatitis with severe course do not respond to conventional therapies and high dose of intravenous immunoglobulin or cyclosporine are recommended for them. This clinical trial study has been done to compare the last two regimens in patients with severe atopic dermatitis, Scoring Atopic Dermatitis (SCORAD) > 70. We included 14 patients in two groups. In group 1, eight patients were randomly selected and received 4mg/kg cyclosporine daily for 3 months and in group 2, six patients received 2g/kg Intravenous Immunoglobulin (IVIG) as stat infusion. All patients were followed on days 15, 30, 60 and 90 after starting the therapy. About 75% and 62.5% of patients had positive skin tests to egg and to milk respectively. Six patients out of 14 patients did not have skin test, so specific IgE by Radioallergosobent tests (RAST) was used for them. All of these patients had positive RAST to egg and 66.6% against cow’s milk.There was a significant difference in the clinical outcomes of these two groups with a marked reduction in SCORAD of day 90th in group 1 in comparison to group 2 (P-value = 0.005). No significant adverse drug reaction was seen in these two groups.

Angioedema is characterized by recurrent, circumscribed, solitary or multiple subcutaneous and mucosal swelling, involving the extremities, face, larynx, bowel wall. Angioedema is due to hereditary or acquired varieties of C1 esterase inhibitor (C1INH) deficiency.A case of atypical acquired angioedema in a 49-year old man, responding favourably to cinnarizine and alcohol abstinence, is presented in this article. Cinnarizine was prescribed due to presumed alcoholic liver disease. The clinical significant amelioration was not associated with concomitant good laboratory result, which is a relatively common occurrence.

Autoimmune lymphoproliferative syndrome is a disorder of lymphoid system regulation characterized by chronic splenomegaly, lymphadenopathy and autoimmune phenomena especially immune-mediated cytopenias. The hallmark of the disease is the presence in peripheral blood and lymphoid tissue of increased numbers of a normally rare T lymphocyte subset, usually referred to as “double-negative” T cells. Here the authors report a 16-year-old boy when he was first hospitalized for diffuse petechiae, purpura and epistaxis at 9 years of age. One year later,he was readmitted for high fever and recurring cytopenia. On examination several enlarged, nontender lymph nodes involving cervical and submandibular areas and a huge spleen were detected.Lymph node biopsy was performed two times. According to flowcytometry of peripheral blood and immunophenotyping of lymph node tissues which revealed increased numbers of CD3+CD4-CD8- T-lymphocytes autoimmune lymphoproliferative syndrome was suggested for him. Autoimmune lymphoproliferative syndrome should be considered in differential diagnosis of any patient with unexplained Coomb’s positive cytopenias, hypergammaglobulinemia, generalized lymphadenopathy and splenomegaly. The confirmation of the diagnosis should be based upon genetic analysis and detection of the affected genes involved in fas pathway.