Chinese bayberry Myrica rubra is a very popular fruit in southeastern China.In spite of its wide consumption,no allergies to this fruit have been reported previously.Here we report on a 40-year-old woman suffering from anaphylaxis to Chinese bayberry fruit.Prick-prick skin tests revealed strong reactions to fresh Chinese bayberry fruits as well as to peach,and weaker reactions to some other fruits including apple,melon,and banana.ImmunoCAP analysis revealed identical titers of specific IgE(4.3 kU A /L) to peach extract and its lipid transfer protein(LTP,rPru p 3),which was confirmed by detection of a 9 kD band following immunoblotting.Immunoblot analysis with Chinese bayberry extract gave bands of 22,45,and 90 kD,but no 9 kD band was recognized.There was also no evidence of LTP recognition for loquat(36 kD) or melon(24 kD).This first report of a severe allergic reaction to Chinese bayberry fruit in a patient with LTP-mediated peach allergy indicates that other as yet unidentified non-pollen related fruit allergens are involved in this new severe fruit allergy.
Hui-ying WANGZhong-shan GAOZhao-wei YANGJing-xin SHAOXiu-zhen ZHAOYu DAIRonald VAN REE
Objective： Airway inflammation and airway hyper-responsiveness（AHR） are principle pathological manifestations of asthma. Cluster of differentiation 69（CD69） is a well-known co-stimulatory factor associated with the activation, proliferation as well as apoptosis of immune cells. This study aims to examine the effect of anti-CD69 monoclonal antibody（m Ab） on the pathophysiology of a mouse model of asthma. Methods： A murine model of ovalbumin（OVA）-induced allergic airway inflammation was used in this study. Briefly, mice were injected with 20 μg chicken OVA intraperitoneally on Days 0 and 14, followed by aerosol provocation with 1%（0.01 g/ml） OVA on Days 24, 25, and 26. Anti-CD69 m Ab or isotype Ig G was injected intraperitoneally after OVA challenge; dexamethasone（DXM） was administrated either before or after OVA challenge. AHR, mucus production, and eosinophil infiltration in the peribronchial area were examined. The levels of granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor（GM-CSF） and interleukin-5（IL-5） in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid（BALF） were also assayed as indices of airway inflammation on Day 28 following OVA injection. Results： Pretreatment with DXM together with anti-CD69 m Ab treatment after OVA provocation completely inhibited AHR, eosinophil infiltration and mucus overproduction, and significantly reduced BALF IL-5. However, treatment with DXM alone after OVA challenge only partially inhibited AHR, eosinophil infiltration and mucus overproduction, and did not diminish BALF IL-5. Treatment with either DXM or anti-CD69 m Ab did not alter the concentration of BALF GM-CSF. Conclusions： Anti-CD69 m Ab treatment inhibits established airway inflammation as effectively as DXM pretreatment. This study provides a potential alternative therapeutic opportunity for the clinical management of asthma and its exacerbation.
Background： The specialty of allergy developed quickly in western countries because of the rapid increase of allergic diseases, whereas it developed relatively slowly in China. The prevalence of allergen sensitization and allergic diseases in Zhejiang Province of China is high and improving the medical services for these diseases is critically needed. Objective： To investigate the working status of the diagnosis and treatment of allergic diseases, including doctor resources, diagnostic methods, and allergen-specific immunotherapy in patients of Zhejiang Province, and to provide instructions for the strategic development of subspecialties of allergic diseases. Methods： First we defined the doctors who treat allergic diseases, and designed a comprehensive questionnaire to collect personal and hospital information for these doctors. The questionnaires were distributed to hospitals with different ranks and from different areas in the province. The general condition of doctor＇s resources, carryout of diagnostic methods, and allergen-specific immunotherapy were described and variations in the different specialties, hospitals, and areas were further analyzed. Results： Doctors in their thirties with bachelor＇s degrees were the mainstream for diagnosing and treating allergic diseases. The main specialties of the doctor resources were the specialties of Ear, Nose and Throat（ENT）, Respirology, Pediatrics, and Dermatology. The Pediatrics specialty had a more reasonable infrastructure of doctor resources with more young doctors working in this subspecialty. The development of allergy subspecialty varied within hospitals at different levels or from different areas. The carryout of the skin prick test（SPT）, serum specific Ig E（ss Ig E）, and subcutaneous immunotherapy（SCIT） was best performed in provincial hospitals, while sublingual immunotherapy（SLIT） was prescribed most commonly in municipal hospitals. The performance of SPT and ss Ig E in Hangzhou, Jiaxing, and Wenzhou areas was much better th
Objective： To investigate the effect of Tripterygium polyglycosid on establishing airway eosinophil infiltration and related airway hyperresponsiveness of asthmatic mice. Methods： A mature murine asthmatic model was made with ovabulmin sensitized and challenged C57BL/6 mice. Forty mice were divided into four groups with 10 mice in each group： mice sensitized and challenged with saline （WS group）, mice sensitized and challenged with ovalbumin （WO group）, mice sensitized and challenged with ovalbumin and treated with Tripterygium polyglycosid （TP group） and Dexamethasone （DXM group）. The mice were intraperitoneally injected with 20 I^g chicken ovabulmin emulsified in injected alum on days 0 and 14, then were challenged with an aerosol generated from 1% ovabulmin on days 24, 25 and 26. Tripterygium poiyglycosid was injected intraperitoneally at 50 mg/kg on days 25, 26 and 27 after ovabulmin challenge. Dexamethasone was administrated to mice at 2 mg/kg on day 21, 23 before ovabulmin challenge. The airway hyperresponsiveness, mucus production, eosinophils in parabronchial area and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and the level of interleukin-5, granulo-macrophage clone stimulating factor in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid were measured as indexes of inflammation. Results： Tripterygium polyglycosid treatment after ovabulmin challenge completely inhibited eosinophil infiltration in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid [（0.63 ± 0.34） × 10^4 vs. （75.0± 14.8） × 10^4, P〈0.05] and the peribrochial area （12.60 ± 3.48 mm^2 vs. 379.0 ± 119.3 mm^2, P〈0.05）, mucus overproduction in airway （2.8± 1.7 vs. 7.1± 5.6, P〈0.05）, and increased interleukin-5 levels in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid （28.8±2.8 pg/mL vs. 7.5± 3.5 pg/mL, P〈0.05）. Meanwhile, Tripterygium polyglycosid treatment after ovabulmin challenge also partially inhibited airway hyperresponsiveness. The level of granulo-macrophage clone stimulating factor in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid didn＇t change with drugs intervention. C
