sodium-dodecyl-sulfate and Rhinitis--Allergic--Seasonal

Data on skin reactivity in patients with respiratory atopy without atopic dermatitis are scarce and controversial. Our purpose was to assess whether skin reactivity in patients with seasonal allergic rhinitis varies according to the phase of the disease and the possible release of inflammatory mediators acting on the skin during the pollen season. The volar forearm skin of eleven patients with seasonal allergic rhinitis without atopic dermatitis was challenged with a single exposure to sodium lauryl sulfate. The skin response was evaluated instrumentally over 72 h by transepidermal water loss, capacitance and echogenicity measurements for the assessment of skin damage and the inflammatory response. Tests were performed in winter and repeated in spring in seasonal allergic rhinitis patients, when they showed respiratory symptoms. Fifteen subjects with atopic dermatitis underwent the same experimental procedure in winter as a control population. Baseline and postexposure values were similar both in winter and in spring in seasonal allergic rhinitis patients. After sodium lauryl sulfate challenge, atopic dermatitis patients showed a higher degree of skin barrier damage and inflammation compared to patients with seasonal allergic rhinitis. These findings suggest that subjects with seasonal allergic rhinitis without atopic dermatitis have normal epidermal barrier function and normal skin reactivity during both the inactive and the active phase of the disease. Inflammatory mediators possibly released by mucous membranes during active allergic rhinitis do not influence skin barrier function.

Topics: Adult; Female; Galvanic Skin Response; Humans; Irritants; Male; Patch Tests; Rhinitis, Allergic, Seasonal; Skin; Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate; Water Loss, Insensible

Several egg white and egg yolk and avian proteins have been described as a cause of inhalant allergy. Sometimes inhalational type I hypersensitivity to these proteins is associated with food allergy to egg.. We studied two patients who experienced respiratory and food allergic symptoms upon exposure to egg or avian antigens through the inhalative or digestive routes. Clinical and immunological studies were carried out in order to identify individual allergens from these sources that could be responsible for crossreactivity reactions.. Patient 1 showed IgE sensitization to egg yolk livetins, feathers, and chicken serum. Specific bronchial challenge with chicken albumin and livetin extracts elicited a positive early asthmatic response and an increase in serum eosinophil cationic protein. Immunoblot and CAP-inhibition studies in this patient supported that chicken albumin (alpha-livetin) was the crossreactive antigen present in egg yolk and chicken serum and feathers. Patient 2 showed sensitization to egg white, ovomucoid and lysozyme. However, SDS-PAGE and immunoblot studies demonstrated contaminating lysozyme in the ovomucoid extract and identified lysozyme as the main allergen causing egg sensitization in this patient. Conjunctival challenge test confirmed allergy to lysozyme.. Egg yolk and egg white proteins may act not only as ingested allergens but also as aeroallergens. Immunological studies using highly purified preparations of egg proteins are useful for the accurate diagnosis of allergic reactions to egg proteins and to identify individual allergens that may be responsible for crossreactivity reactions.

Topics: Adult; Allergens; Antibodies; Asthma; Bronchial Provocation Tests; Conjunctiva; Conjunctivitis, Allergic; Egg Proteins; Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; Female; Food Hypersensitivity; Histamine Release; Humans; Immunoblotting; Immunoglobulin E; Respiratory Hypersensitivity; Rhinitis, Allergic, Seasonal; Skin Tests; Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate

No literature data are available on the skin reactivity of patients with respiratory atopy alone.. Our purpose was to assess skin reactivity to detergents in patients with allergic asthma, rhinitis, or both.. The skin of the volar aspect of the forearm of 19 subjects with allergic asthma or rhinitis (or both) was challenged with a single exposure to 0.5% sodium lauryl sulfate. The skin response was evaluated by transepidermal water loss (TEWL), capacitance, and echogenicity measurements. Results were compared with those obtained in 19 patients with atopic dermatitis (AD) and 20 healthy subjects.. In patients with AD preexposure TEWL values were higher than in healthy subjects, whereas capacitance values were lower. In this patient group, postexposure TEWL, capacitance, and echogenicity values showed more pronounced variations than in healthy subjects. Conversely, in patients with allergic asthma or rhinitis (or both), both baseline and postexposure TEWL, capacitance, and echogenicity values were similar to those in healthy subjects.. Patients with respiratory atopy without AD do not have the functional abnormalities characteristic of skin affected by AD, either under baseline conditions or after exposure to sodium lauryl sulfate.

Topics: Adult; Asthma; Dermatitis, Atopic; Detergents; Electric Conductivity; Female; Humans; Immunization; Male; Respiratory Hypersensitivity; Rhinitis, Allergic, Seasonal; Skin; Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate; Ultrasonography; Water Loss, Insensible

The sera of 20 patients with Compositae pollen allergy were investigated for the presence of IgE antibodies reacting against sunflower pollen by means of RAST and immunoblotting studies. Thirteen IgE-binding bands were detected with molecular weights ranging from 14.4 to 94 kd. Two of these bands, with molecular weights of 24 and 25 kd, contained major allergens that reacted strongly with 100% (24 kd) and 95% (25 kd) of the sera, respectively. Cross-reactivity between sunflower and other Compositae pollens (mugwort, marguerite, dandelion, golden rod, and short ragweed) was revealed by RAST and immunoblotting inhibition experiments. Mugwort pollen exhibited the greatest degree of allergenic homology (cross-reactivity) with sunflower pollen, whereas at the other end of the spectrum, short ragweed showed less cross-reactive epitopes.

Topics: Allergens; Cross Reactions; Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; Helianthus; Humans; Immunoblotting; Pollen; Radioallergosorbent Test; Rhinitis, Allergic, Seasonal; Skin Tests; Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate