Immunology CMN20NOV

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a debilitating disease that significantly alters the quality of life for one in four children and one in 10 adults. Current management of AD utilizes combinations of treatments to symptomatically alleviate disease by suppressing the inflammatory response and restoring barrier function in the skin, reducing disease exacerbation and flare, and preventing secondary skin infections. Resolution is temporary and long-term usage of these treatments can be associated with significant side-effects...

Episodic and recurrent local cutaneous or mucosal swelling are key features of angioedema. The vasoactive agents histamine and bradykinin are highly implicated as mediators of these swelling attacks. It is challenging to assess the contribution of bradykinin to the clinical expression of angioedema, as accurate biomarkers for the generation of this vasoactive peptide are still lacking. In this review, we will describe the mechanisms that are responsible for bradykinin production in hereditary angioedema (HAE) and the central role that the coagulation factor XII (FXII) plays in it...

The generation of long-lived plasma cells and memory B cells producing high-affinity antibodies depends on the maturation of B cell responses in germinal centers. These processes are essential for long-lasting antibody-mediated protection against infections. IgE antibodies are important for defense against parasites and toxins and can also mediate anti-tumor immunity. However, high-affinity IgE is also the main culprit responsible for the manifestations of allergic disease, including life-threatening anaphylaxisAnaphylaxis ...

IgE not only provides protective immunity against helminth parasites but can also mediate the type I hypersensitivity reactions that contribute to the pathogenesis of allergic diseases such as asthma, allergic rhinitis and atopic dermatitis. Despite the importance of IgE in immune biology and allergic pathogenesis, the cells and the pathways that produce and regulate IgE are poorly understood. In this Review, we summarize recent advances in our understanding of the production and the regulation of IgE in vivo, as revealed by studies in mice, and we discuss how these findings compare to what is known about human IgE biology...

Rosai-Dorfman disease (RDD) is a non-malignant pathology of histiocyte proliferation. The classical clinical presentation is with painless cervical lymphadenopathy, but extranodal involvement is frequent, occurring in approximately 40% of cases. The literature was systematically reviewed to identify reported cases of RDD with cardiac involvement. Eighteen cases were identified (3 pediatric and 15 adult). In adult cardiac RDD (cRDD), three patterns of disease were noted: an intra-cardiac mass, epicardial involvement, and pulmonary artery involvement...

Mindfulness meditation represents a mental training framework for cultivating the state of mindful awareness in daily life. Recently, there has been a surge of interest in how mindfulness meditation improves human health and well-being. Although studies have shown that mindfulness meditation can improve self-reported measures of disease symptomatology, the effect that mindfulness meditation has on biological mechanisms underlying human aging and disease is less clear. To address this issue, we conducted the first comprehensive review of randomized controlled trials examining the effects of mindfulness meditation on immune system parameters, with a specific focus on five outcomes: (1) circulating and stimulated inflammatory proteins, (2) cellular transcription factors and gene expression, (3) immune cell count, (4) immune cell aging, and (5) antibody response...

Innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) are a growing family of immune cells that mirror the phenotypes and functions of T cells. However, in contrast to T cells, ILCs do not express acquired antigen receptors or undergo clonal selection and expansion when stimulated. Instead, ILCs react promptly to signals from infected or injured tissues and produce an array of secreted proteins termed cytokines that direct the developing immune response into one that is adapted to the original insult. The complex cross-talk between microenvironment, ILCs, and adaptive immunity remains to be fully deciphered...

Communication between the immune system and metabolic components can be exemplified by the process of heme catabolism. The immunomodulatory functions of the enzymes, substrates and active products related to catabolism of the heme group have been extensively studied. Bilirubin (BR), the final breakdown product of heme, is primarily considered to be a toxic waste product but has recently been considered to be an immunomodulatory metabolite. Through mechanisms that include intracellular signaling and transcriptional control, BR affects those immune cell functions that regulate cell proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis...

Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection remains to be one of the major global health problems. It is thus necessary to identify novel therapeutic molecules to combat HIV-1. Natural antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) have been recognized as promising templates for developing topical microbicides. This review systematically discusses over 80 anti-HIV peptides annotated in the antimicrobial peptide database (https://aps.unmc.edu/AP). Such peptides have been discovered from bacteria, plants, and animals...

Immune cell death is often observed in response to infection. There are three potential beneficial outcomes after host cell death: (1) the removal of an intracellular niche for microbes, (2) direct microbicidal activity of released components and (3) the propagation of an inflammatory response. Recent findings suggest that three forms of non-apoptotic regulated cell death, pyroptosis, necroptosis and NETosis, can impact on immunity to bacterial infection. However, it is challenging to design experiments that unequivocally prove the advantageous effects of regulated cell death on immunity...

This review has discussed a link between allergic rhinitis, asthma and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and a case report in this area. A clear link with symptoms of allergic rhinitis, asthma and SLE exists. Several articles found on pubmed in the literature are listed on allergic rhinitis and allergy, Th1-immune responses, mast cells in autoimmunity, total immunoglobulin E levels in lupus, atopic diseases and SLE are reviewed. In addition, risks and correlations, genetic predisposition, environmental factors, immune regulation, elevated serum IgE levels, regulatory B cells for both allergic and autoimmune diseases are mentioned, Asthma and the vascular endothelial cell growth factor, asthma and autoimmune diseases, allergy and autoimmunity, neutrophils, innate and adaptive immunity in the development of SLE, the (Tim) gene family, complement activation in SLE and immunomodulation, hypersensitivity reactions in autoimmunity are discussed...

Immunological memory can be defined as a quantitatively and qualitatively enhanced immune response upon rechallenge. For natural killer (NK) cells, two main types of memory exist. First, similarly to T cells and B cells, NK cells can exert immunological memory after encounters with stimuli such as haptens or viruses, resulting in the generation of antigen-specific memory NK cells. Second, NK cells can remember inflammatory cytokine milieus that imprint long-lasting non-antigen-specific NK cell effector function...

Moringa (Moringa oleifera Lam.) is an edible plant used as both a food and medicine throughout the tropics. A moringa concentrate (MC), made by extracting fresh leaves with water, utilized naturally occurring myrosinase to convert four moringa glucosinolates into moringa isothiocyanates. Optimum conditions maximizing MC yield, 4-[(α-L-rhamnosyloxy)benzyl]isothiocyanate, and 4-[(4'-O-acetyl-α-L-rhamnosyloxy)benzyl]isothiocyanate content were established (1:5 fresh leaf weight to water ratio at room temperature)...

This evidence-based clinical practice guideline provides recommendations to primary care clinicians for the management of children from 2 months through 12 years of age with uncomplicated acute otitis media (AOM). The American Academy of Pediatrics and American Academy of Family Physicians convened a committee composed of primary care physicians and experts in the fields of otolaryngology, epidemiology, and infectious disease. The subcommittee partnered with the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and the Southern California Evidence-Based Practice Center to develop a comprehensive review of the evidence-based literature related to AOM...

This guidance for the management of patients with chronic urticaria and angioedema has been prepared by the Standards of Care Committee of the British Society for Allergy and Clinical Immunology (BSACI). The guideline is based on evidence as well as on expert opinion and is aimed at both adult physicians and paediatricians practising in allergy. The recommendations are evidence graded. During the development of these guidelines, all BSACI members were included in the consultation process using a Web-based system...

These parameters were developed by the Joint Task Force on Practice Parameters (JTFPP), representing the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (AAAAI); the American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (ACAAI); and the Joint Council of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. The AAAAI and ACAAI have jointly accepted responsibility for establishing "The diagnosis and management of acute and chronic urticaria: 2014 update." This is a complete and comprehensive document at the current time. The medical environment is a changing environment, and not all recommendations will be appropriate for all patients...

BACKGROUND: There are a limited number of publications on the management of gynecologic/obstetric events in female patients with hereditary angioedema caused by C1 inhibitor deficiency (HAE-C1-INH). OBJECTIVE: We sought to elaborate guidelines for optimizing the management of gynecologic/obstetric events in female patients with HAE-C1-INH. METHODS: A roundtable discussion took place at the 6th C1 Inhibitor Deficiency Workshop (May 2009, Budapest, Hungary)...

The term complement was introduced more than 100 years ago to refer to a group of plasma factors important in host defense and in the destruction of microorganisms. We now know that there are 3 separate activation pathways that appeared at different times in evolution: the classical, alternative, and lectin pathways. Two of these appear before the evolution of the adaptive immune system and do not require antibody for initiation. All pathways come together to activate C3, the principle opsonic protein of the complement cascade, and all continue together to the generation of biologically active factors, such as C5a, and to lysis of cells and microbes...

Management of hereditary angioedema (HAE) has changed dramatically in recent years because of the availability of several HAE-specific medications. This paradigm shift in therapy provides the opportunity to dramatically improve the care of HAE patients, but has increased the complexity of treatment. Patient education and communication with health care providers is crucial. Early treatment of HAE attacks has been shown to improve clinical outcomes, highlighting the importance of rapid and reliable treatment...

Asthma is a disorder of the airways involving various inflammatory cells and mediators and characterised by bronchial hyperresponsiveness, chronic inflammation and structural alterations in the airways, also known as remodelling. IgE is an important mediator of allergic reactions and has a central role in allergic asthma pathophysiology, as it is implicated in both the early and late phase allergic response. Moreover, clinical and mechanistic evidence has lately emerged, implicating IgE in the development of airway remodelling...