PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

M Søborg

Publications and source records attributed to M Søborg.

18 recordsLinked to original sources

Hyposensitization in asthmatics with mPEG-modified and unmodified house dust mite extract. IV. Occurrence and prediction of side effects.

A double-blind study on hyposensitization (HS) with two extracts prepared from the house dust mite Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus (Dp) was performed on a group of asthmatics with bronchial sensitivity to Dp. In 18 patients, aluminium-hydroxide was added to the Dp-extract to give a depot effect (Dp-group). Nineteen patients were treated with a similar extract in which allergenicity had been reduced by coupling to monomethoxypolyethylene glycol (mPEG-Dp-group). This extract had previously been shown to have less effect on clinical symptoms and skin sensitivity compared to the Dp-extract. In the Dp- and mPEG-Dp-groups, 778 and 675 injections were administered. Fifteen and 12 patients in the Dp- and mPEG-Dp-groups had systemic reactions (P greater than 0.05). The frequency of injections giving systemic reactions was reduced in the mPEG-Dp-group: 5.1% compared to 9.0% in the Dp-group (P less than 0.01). In the mPEG-Dp-group, reactions were mild to moderate, mainly late-occurring asthma and urticaria, whereas two episodes of anaphylaxis and four of severe asthma occurred in the Dp-group. The reduction in side effects seems promising, but a further dose increase in the mPEG-Dp-group would be necessary to compare the side effects of doses with equal therapeutic effectiveness. High frequency of late local reactions made dose increase impossible with the present slightly modified extract. The systemic side effects occurred more frequently in patients highly skin test-sensitive to Dp prior to treatment. All patients skin test-positive to less than or equal to 100 BU had systemic reactions. Systemic side effects could not be predicted from the size of previous local reactions.

Animals↗

Influenza A virus enhances Staphylococcus aureus-induced basophil histamine release in normal individuals and patients with intrinsic asthma.

Influenza A virus was found to enhance Staphylococcus aureus-induced histamine release in human leukocyte suspensions, but did not per se release histamine. This potentiating effect was found to be similar in cells from normal individuals and from patients with intrinsic asthma. The enhancement of mediator release could be due to viral neuraminidase on the surface of the virus, since a similar potentiating effect was caused by a purified neuraminidase preparation obtained from Vibrio cholerae, and the effect of virus as well as of the purified neuraminidase was completely abolished by a potent neuraminidase inhibitor. The potentiating effect of virus on bacteria-induced mediator release might be of importance for the conversion from latent to manifest asthma in upper respiratory tract infections.

Adult↗

Hyposensitization in asthmatics with mPEG modified and unmodified house dust mite extract. I. Clinical effect evaluated by diary cards and a retrospective assessment.

Forty-six asthmatics with verified allergy to the house dust mite, D. pteronyssinus (Dp), participated in a double-blind study comparing the effect of 2 years' hyposensitization with two different Dp extracts. Two groups received either monomethoxypolyethylene glycol modified (mPEG) Dp extract or the corresponding non-modified extract, and a third group acted as controls receiving no injections. Medicine consumption, symptom scores, and peak expiratory flow (PEF) were recorded daily from September to December prior to and after 6 and 18 months of treatment. Changes were calculated choosing changes greater than or equal to 10% as relevant. In addition, patients were asked to give their direct assessment of the clinical effect at the end of the study. After 6 months, there was an improvement in symptoms + medication in 11/14 of Dp-treated, 6/17 of the mPEG-Dp group (P greater than 0.05) and 3/15 of openly treated controls. Few patients had changed in PEF. During the second year, several Dp-treated relapsed and some controls improved. At the end of the study the same improvement rate was seen in all groups. Similarly, the retrospective questionnaire data did not disclose any significant differences between groups after 2 years. In conclusion, hyposensitization with unmodified Dp extract seemed to have a favourable short-term effect on bronchial symptoms + medication in the majority of patients. When mainly on maintenance dose, the beneficial effect was reduced. The mPEG modification of the extract had reduced not only allergenicity but also the clinical effect of equal doses. Changes in medicine and symptom scores only partly correlated to retrospective assessment, thus stressing the problems in this kind of evaluation.

Animals↗

Hyposensitization in asthmatics with mPEG modified and unmodified house dust mite extract. II. Effect evaluated by challenges with allergen and histamine.

In a 2-year study, 46 asthmatics with verified allergy to the house dust mite D. pteronyssinus (Dp) were included either as controls (Ctls) or receiving hyposensitization (HS) with unmodified or monomethoxypolyethylene glycol (mPEG) modified Dp-extract. Patients were monitored by annual challenges with histamine in bronchi, and Dp allergen in bronchi, nose and conjunctiva. mPEG-modified extract was not inferior to unmodified Dp-extract; both were to some extent able to improve tolerance to Dp and histamine in bronchi and to Dp in nose and eyes. During the 1st year, the bronchial sensitivity to Dp decreased significantly in the HS groups but not in the Ctls. During the 2nd year, improvement was more pronounced in the Ctl group. The relative increase in Dp or histamine tolerance did not differ significantly between groups after either 1 or 2 years; the only exception was conjunctival sensitivity, which in the Ctl group was unchanged, and a 10-fold increase in tolerance in the HS groups. No direct benefit was seen on late-phase bronchial reactions. In patients with improved pulmonary symptoms a tendency was seen towards reduced sensitivity to histamine and Dp. Variation within groups was extensive.

Animals↗

Influenza A virus potentiates basophil histamine release caused by endotoxin-induced complement activation. Examination of normal individuals and patients with intrinsic asthma.

Histamine release from human basophil leukocytes was triggered by complement activation by means of endotoxins isolated from E. coli and Salmonella bacteria. Influenza A virus was found to enhance the mediator release, and the effect was caused by synergism, since virus itself did not release histamine. The potentiating effect was similar in cells from normal individuals and from patients with intrinsic asthma. The involvement of viral neuraminidase was examined by a potent neuraminidase inhibitor and this inhibitor completely abolished the potentiating effect by virus. A purified neuraminidase preparation obtained from Vibrio cholerae caused a similar potentiating effect in mediator release and the effect was abolished by the neuraminidase inhibitor. These findings indicate that viral neuraminidase is responsible for the potentiating effect of virus on the histamine release. This effect might play a role in septic conditions and possibly contribute to asthmatic attacks by infections.

Aged↗

Oral immunotherapy in birch pollen hay fever.

Previous controlled trials with oral administration of allergen have not demonstrated any treatment effect in patients with allergic rhinoconjunctivitis or asthma. In the present double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, we have tested the effect of oral immunotherapy in adult patients with birch pollinosis. Thirty-nine patients completed this 18-month study comprising two birch pollen seasons. The patients received enterosoluble capsules daily, and the actively treated patients reached a cumulated dose of 280 times 10(6) biologic units of birch pollen extract, which is about 200 times higher than the dose used in conventional subcutaneous immunotherapy. We found a significant decrease in eye symptom scores and conjunctival sensitivity to birch pollen, as determined by conjunctival provocation test, as well as a numerical but nonsignificant decrease in nasal symptom scores, nasal sensitivity as determined by nasal provocation test, and antiallergic medication. The treatment was safe, and only a few slight side effects were observed. We thus conclude that our study demonstrates a clinical effect of oral immunotherapy in birch pollinosis.

Administration, Oral↗

Insect allergy. Predictive value of diagnostic tests: a three-year follow-up study.

One hundred and six adults with various reactions to yellow jacket (YJ), honey bee (HB) or unidentified insects (UI) were tested for allergy to insect venoms. For various reasons none received immunotherapy. Individuals completed questionnaires annually for three consecutive years and described sting reactions within the previous season. Ninety subjects completed all the questionnaires and 77 of these were re-tested at the end of the period. Nine out of 25 patients reacted with a systemic reaction when re-stung. High IgE and low IgG venom-specific antibody levels indicated an unfavourable prognosis, since eight of 11 individuals who initially presented venom-specific IgE greater than RAST class 2 and venom-specific IgG below detection limit had systemic reactions at re-sting. No such reactions occurred in subjects with no specific IgE and only one out of six with specific IgE as well as IgG reacted systematically. Skin prick tests (SPT) of less than 3mm with YJ venom 1,000 micrograms/ml excluded later systemic symptoms to stings, whereas larger skin reactions gave an equal chance of systemic or local reactions at re-sting. In individuals not stung by UI, YJ and/or HB the decline in venom-specific IgG and IgE was significant, median values ranging from 41% to 75% over the 3-year period. The decline was unaffected by the type of sting reaction prior to the initial test. SPT results did not change significantly. The findings are relevant when testing patients several years after their last insect sting and the results might indicate that the antibody decline is accompanied by a decrease in clinical sensitivity.

Adult↗

Immunotherapy with yellow jacket venom. A comparative study including three different extracts, one adsorbed to aluminium hydroxide and two unmodified.

Thirty-two patients with previous systemic allergic reaction to yellow jacket stings were randomly allocated to three groups receiving immunotherapy with different preparations of yellow jacket venom: 1) extract adsorbed to aluminium hydroxide (Alutard-SQ), 2) Pharmalgen extract or 3) non-adsorbed extract from Allergologisk Laboratorium (ALK aq.). Regular examinations showed a decrease in skin prick test size in nearly all patients. Specific IgE-antibody (RAST and CRIE scores) showed a similar, but not significant tendency to decrease in all three groups. Specific IgG-antibody increased considerably in the Alutard group only; after 2 years, however, no difference could be detected between the three groups. During dose increase, patients treated with ALK aq. generally had smaller local reactions to injections than those treated with Pharmalgen. Few systemic reactions occurred in all three groups. Nineteen patients treated for 2 1/2-3 1/2 years were challenged in-hospital with stings from yellow jackets. No systemic and only minor local reactions occurred. Consequently, with the dose regimens applied all three extracts seem effective even though no common changes in either specific IgE or IgG could be demonstrated.

Adult↗

Clinical and immunological aspects of a case of monoclonal hyper-IgE. Isolation of IgE-protein, estimation of basophil cell bound IgE and histamine release.

A case of monoclonal IgE type lambda with IgE levels about 1 mg/ml has been followed for 6 years. Except for a slight asthma no signs of malignancies, parasitic infestations or other known diseases compatible with hyper-IgE have been found. By the combination of fractional ammonium sulphate precipitation, gel filtration, chromatofocusing, and subtraction affinity chromatography the IgE protein was isolated in an immunochemically pure and homogeneous form. Immunofluorescence of bone marrow cells showed about 1% IgE plasma cells. The amount of basophil bound IgE was 42 ng/10(6) cells, and histamine release from basophils challenged with anti-IgE was not different from that in atopic control persons, indicating a within-allergic-patients normal amount of IgE receptors. The protein-A reactivity was 0.4% equivalent to well-known IgE myeloma proteins. No antigen specificity of the IgE protein was found. Only a few cases of asymptomatic hyper-IgE are known, and it cannot be ruled out that this represents a premyeloma condition, since a similar case terminated in a malignant lymphoma.

Aged↗

Oral administration of grass pollen to hay fever patients. An efficacy study in oral hyposensitization.

Oral hyposensitization is still widely used in the treatment of allergic diseases, but controlled studies proving a beneficial effect are lacking. Fifty-eight hay fever patients were admitted to a double-blind placebo efficacy study in oral hyposensitization. An enterosoluble tablet containing timothy whole pollen or placebo was taken daily. Preseasonally, the actively treated patients received 4,315,000 PNU (880,260 AUR) and totally for 6 months 8,915,000 PNU (1,818,660 AUR). Such high doses have never been tried in similar studies. A new principle has been used - "the pollen count interval method" - in the evaluation of symptom and medication score. The study failed to prove any beneficial effect of oral hyposensitization measured by symptom score, medication score, nasal provocation test or skin prick test. There was no change in timothy specific IgE and IgG which could be caused by the treatment. The possibility that oral hyposensitization might be an effective treatment of hay fever in the future is discussed, but it is concluded that the present regimens cannot be recommended.

Administration, Oral↗

HEP versus PNU standardization of allergen extracts in skin prick testing. A comparative randomized in vivo study.

During 1 year, all patients referred to an allergy outpatient clinic for adults were skin prick tested with a panel of standard allergen extracts from two manufacturers using different methods of standardization. One company referred to the histamine equivalent prick (HEP) and the other used the more traditional protein nitrogen units (PNU). Standard extracts and five-fold dilution were tested. The results indicate that the ratio of concentration between two extracts of the same allergen should be measured by the absolute difference of the wheal diameters. We found significant differences between corresponding extracts from the two manufacturers.

Adult↗

Controlled-release theophylline and proxyphylline in asthmatics: a comparative study.

In a short-term study, a new sustained-release preparation of proxyphylline (2400 mg/day) was compared to theophylline (800 mg/day) and placebo. A double-blind crossover design was used, and 10 adult asthmatics participated. No significant differences were found between the treatments with regard to relief of asthma symptoms, need for additional medication or incidence and intensity of side-effects. In the placebo period, morning peak-flow was significantly lower compared to active treatment periods.

Adult↗

A comparative study of dexchlorpheniramine maleate sustained release tablets and budesonide nasal spray in seasonal allergic rhinitis.

It was the aim of the study to compare the efficacy and side effects of oral antihistamine and nasal glucocorticoid therapy in seasonal allergic, rhinitis. In a double blind, double-dummy, group-comparative study, 61 adult grass pollen allergic patients were either treated with dexchlorpheniramine maleate sustained release tablets (6 mg b.d.), or with budesonide nasal spray (200 micrograms b.d.). After a 1-week run-in period, treatment was given for 3 weeks in the grass pollen season. Patients treated with budesonide showed significantly less nasal blockage than those who received dexchlorpheniramine (P less than 0.05), but there was no difference in the number of sneezes and nose blowings. Patients treated with budesonide and a larger quantity of antihistamine-vasoconstrictor eye drops (P less than 0.01). Drowsiness occurred in the group that was treated with dexchlorpheniramine, but mainly during the first week of treatment. The side effects caused by the budesonide spray were few and insignificant. The patients' overall assessment of the treatment favoured the glucocorticoid spray (P = 0.06).

Administration, Intranasal↗

Comparison of a new lancet and a hypodermic needle for skin prick testing.

Skin prick tests with a standard allergen panel were carried out in duplicate (one on each arm) on all patients referred to an allergy out-patient clinic. A new lancet with 1-mm point length and a disposable hypodermic needle were used. Patients were randomized to lancet-needle, lancet-lancet, or needle-needle, and the skin prick tests were done by experienced or inexperienced nurses. The mean of the biggest and smallest diameters was used as a measure of the size of the wheal. Skin reactions from a total of 142 patients were included. For both lancet and needle a significant difference was noted when comparing experienced versus inexperienced investigators' reproducibility expressed as coefficient of variation. There was no significant difference in reproducibility when comparing lancet and needle results, and no significant difference in wheal size when comparing with histamine references. Surprisingly, the reactions on left arms were generally larger than those on right arms.

Allergens↗

Human leucocyte migration inhibition.

Within the last decade a variety of techniques have been developed and used for the detection of cell-mediated immunity in man by means of leucocyte migration inhibition in vitro. A detailed description of the leucocyte migration capillary tube technique (LMCT) and the leucocyte migration agarose technique (LMAT) is given. The procedure for selecting and using the proper antigen concentration is described. A description is also given of the indirect LMAT and the technique for determination of concanavalin A-induced lymphocyte release of leucocyte migration inhibition factor. Applications of these techniques are mainly intended for the exploration of the immunobiology of lymphocytes and cellular interactions associated with the immune response and the investigation of clinical conditions in man, i.e. infectious diseases, autoimmune diseases, transplantation states, tumour diseases, contact hypersensitivity and immunological deficiency states. Selection and adaptation to suit the experimental aim is necessary to obtain optimal results with these techniques. Their usefulness may be increased through more extensive use of purified antigens and indirect assays.

Cell Migration Inhibition↗

Comparison between specific IgE measured by RAST, two chemiluminescent assays and skin prick test.

Two hundred adult patients referred to a regional outpatient allergy clinic were skin prick tested and their specific IgE against ten inhalant allergens was measured by three different assays: the classical radioallergosorbent assay, Phadebas RAST (P-RAST), (Pharmacia AB, Uppsala, Sweden), the multi-allergosorbent chemiluminescent assay CLA (MAST), (Dome/Hollister-Stier, Miles Ltd., UK), and the immunocheminometric assay, MAGIC LITE SQ Specific IgE (ML), (ALK Laboratorierne, Hørsholm, Denmark). Skin prick test (SPT) was performed with extracts from the same companies. Marked differences between the assays were seen especially in the low range. Specific IgE was detected in 17% of the samples by P-RAST, in 66% by CLA, and in 17% by ML. Frequency distribution of P-RAST and ML measurements showed a peak at zero and a gradual decline towards larger values, whereas distribution for CLA was U-shaped with a peak at zero and another peak close to maximum reactions. Kendall's rank correlation coefficient being 0.80 for P-RAST vs. CLA. Correlation coefficient between measurements of specific IgE and SPT was high for CLA (0.65). Even in the low-level subgroup where IgE was detected by CLA only, a high correlation (0.60) between CLA and SPT was observed. In conclusion marked differences were observed between the three assays for specific IgE measurement. The CLA system seems to be more sensitive than the conventional P-RAST and ML, but further studies should reveal whether this extra sensitivity is clinically useful.

Adolescent↗

Skin prick testing with standardized extracts from 3 different manufacturers. A comparative randomized study.

The aim of this study was to compare skin reactivity to routine allergen prick test with panels of allergens, supplied by three different manufacturers. The allergens comprised ten aero-allergens commonly used for skin prick test in Northern Europe, and included pollen, dander, house dust mites, and moulds. Two hundred consecutive patients were tested. The methods for standardization of allergen extracts, declaration of allergenic potency, and recommended lancets differed. The equipment were Soluprick SQ (Allergologisk Laboratorium A/S, Denmark) (ALK), Alphatest (Dome/Hollister-Stier, U.K.) (DHS), and Phazet (Pharmacia, Sweden) (PHA). The coefficient of variation for the allergen coated PHA (same lancet was applied twice) was 0.31, and for ALK and DHS allergen extracts 0.13 and 0.18, respectively. The frequencies of patients with positive reactions to the various allergens were generally similar, although DHS appeared to elicit less positive reactions to Timothy, dog, and Dermatophagoides pteronnyssinus. For the individual physician, it may be important to know the allergenic activity of the different allergens in his routine panel compared to the activity in other similar panels.

Adolescent↗