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S Isola

Publications and source records attributed to S Isola.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Prevention of new sensitizations in monosensitized subjects submitted to specific immunotherapy or not. A retrospective study.

BACKGROUND: Specific immunotherapy is the only currently available allergen-orientated treatment able to modify the natural history of respiratory allergic diseases. Safety and clinical efficacy of this treatment are well documented, but evidence about the ability to reduce new sensitizations is still poor. OBJECTIVE: We report a retrospective study conducted in order to assess the prevention of new sensitizations in monosensitized subjects treated with specific immunotherapy vs. monosensitized patients treated with anti-allergic drugs. METHODS: 8396 monosensitized patients with respiratory symptoms were selected according to an open, retrospective design. Group A included 7182 patients submitted to specific immunotherapy (and anti-allergic drugs when needed) for 4 years and then treated with drugs for at least 3 years. Group B included 1214 patients treated only with drugs for at least 7 years. All patients underwent prick test with a standard panel of allergens and total and specific IgE determination before and after 4 years of treatment and again 3 years later. RESULTS: Groups were well balanced. Polysensitized subjects were 23.75% in Group A and 68.03% in Group B after 4 years (P < 0.0001) and 26.95% and 76.77%, respectively, after 7 years (P < 0.0001). Asthmatic subjects were more prone to develop polysensitization in comparison to subjects suffering only from rhinitis (32.14% instead of 27.29% after 4 years, 36.5% instead of 31.33% after 7 years; P < 0.0001). Specific IgE decreased by 24.11% in Group A and increased by 23.87% in Group B (P < 0.0001). Total IgE decreased by 17.53% in Group A and increased by 13.71% in Group B (P < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: Specific immunotherapy was observed retrospectively to reduce new sensitizations in monosensitized subjects suffering from respiratory allergic diseases.

Administration, Inhalation↗
PubMed1999

Sublingual immunotherapy: a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial with Parietaria judaica extract standardized in mass units in patients with rhinoconjunctivitis, asthma, or both.

BACKGROUND: New routes of administering immunotherapy in respiratory allergy are being studied as an alternative to conventional injective immunotherapy. We carried out a study to evaluate the clinical efficacy and effects of sublingual immunotherapy in patients with Parietaria judaica-induced respiratory allergy. METHODS: A double-blind, placebo-controlled design was followed. Thirty patients with P. judaica rhinoconjunctivitis, mild asthma, or both were randomly chosen for sublingual immunotherapy (14 patients) or placebo treatment (16 patients). The patients underwent preseasonal rush induction treatment followed by coseasonal maintenance treatment during the Parietaria pollen season. Symptom and drug scores, as well as specific IgE and specific IgG4, were recorded. RESULTS: Significantly lower symptom and drug scores were found (P=0.04), especially during the Parietaria pollination period, in the immunotherapy group. No significant difference in specific IgE and specific IgG4 was detected between the active and placebo groups; a statistically significant increase of specific IgE was detected in both groups (P=0.05). No patient undergoing active sublingual immunotherapy reported local or systemic side-effects. CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest that sublingual immunotherapy is both clinically effective and safe in treating patients with Parietaria-induced rhinoconjunctivitis and mild asthma.

Administration, Sublingual↗
PubMed1999

A controlled study on the effectiveness of loratadine in combination with flunisolide in the treatment of nonallergic rhinitis with eosinophilia (NARES).

BACKGROUND: Nonallergic rhinitis with eosinophilia (NARES), accounting for some 15% of perennial rhinitis, is a nasal disorder whose main features are eosinophil counts in nasal smear higher than 10% and negative IgE tests. The mainstay of treatment is topical corticosteroids. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the adjunctive effect of loratadine, a non-sedating antihistamine with anti-allergic activity, on nasal symptoms and eosinophil counts in nasal secretions in patients with NARES. METHODS: Thirty patients with NARES were divided in two groups, half receiving flunisolide two 25 microg puffs per nostril morning and night plus loratadine 10 mg u.i.d. and half the same doses of flunisolide plus placebo, according to a double-blind fashion, for 3 weeks. The effectiveness of the treatment in the two groups was evaluated by comparing symptom scores and eosinophil counts, and safety was assessed by comparing the adverse effects. RESULTS: The loratadine treated group had better results both in nasal symptoms, with a decrease in sneezing (P < 0.000001) and rhinorrhoea (P < 0.006), respectively, corresponding with 73.4% and 66.7% with respect to 46.6% and 26.7% in the control group, and in eosinophil counts which decreased by 20% compared with 14.3% in patients treated with placebo and flunisolide. As to safety, only nasal irritation in two patients, one in each group, was reported. CONCLUSION: Loratadine improves the effectiveness of flunisolide in treatment of NARES with no change in safety, and with no sedation.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Immediate reaction to clarithromycin.

We present the case of bronchospastic reaction to clarithromycin had during a drug challenge test. Personal allergic history was negative for respiratory allergies and positive for adverse drug reactions to general and regional anesthesia and to ceftriaxone. After the administration of 1/4 of therapeutic dose of clarithromycin the patient showed dyspnea, cough and bronchospasm in all the lung fields. The positivity of the test was confirmed by the negativity to the administration of placebo. The quickness and the clinical characteristic of the adverse reaction suggest a pathogenic mechanism of immediate-type hypersensitivity. On reviewing the literature we have found no reports of bronchospastic reaction to clarithromycin. Macrolides are a class of antibiotics mainly used in the last years in place of beta-lactams because of a broad spectrum of action and a low allergic power. In fact, there are few reports on allergic reactions to these molecules. Clarithromycin is one of the latest macrolides, characterised by the presence of a 14-carbon-atom lactone ring as erythromycin, active on a wide spectrum of pathogens.

Adult↗