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Background β-Adrenergic blockers (BBs) have been associated with increased risk for severe anaphylactic reaction (AR) from contrast media; however, this was shown with intravenous contrast media, before widespread use of low osmolar contrast media, angiotensin-converting enzyme-inhibitors (ACE-Is), and cardioselective BBs. Objective To assess the risk for AR during cardiac catheterization (CC) associated with BB or ACE-I exposure. Methods Patients who experienced adverse reactions during CC from January 2004 to December 2013 were identified; 1 to 2 matched controls were assigned for each case. We analyzed AR rates in association with demographic variables, medication exposures (BBs, ACE-Is, angiotensin-receptor blockers, aspirin), and comorbidities: cardiovascular disorders, asthma, and atopy. Results We analyzed 71,782 CCs. Of these, severe 70 reactors were identified—46 (0.06%) fulfilled AR criteria. There were 35 cases of mild to moderate AR and 11 cases of severe AR (0.015%). There were no significant differences in age (61.3% vs 61.5%), sex (63% vs 64% males), cardiovascular disorder rate (78% vs 93%), and exposure to BBs (46% vs 51%; cardioselective: 77% vs 80%) and ACE-Is (37.0% vs 37.2%) in cases versus controls. Via multivariate logistic regression, BB exposure was not associated with greater AR frequency (P = .35) or severity (P = .40). Neither cardioselective BBs (P = 0.2) nor noncardioselective BBs (P = .5) influenced AR severity. ACE-Is had no effect on AR frequency (P = .35) or severity (P = .14). Lower AR frequency was associated with cardiovascular disorder (P = .01). Conclusions In this case-control study, severe AR was rarely observed. Exposure to BBs or ACE-Is did not significantly influence AR frequency or severity; however, most BBs were cardioselective. Our findings imply that cardioselective BB or ACE-I suspension is not warranted in association with CC.

Concomitant dramatic increase in prevalence of allergic and metabolic diseases is part of a modern epidemic afflicting technologically advanced societies. While clinical evidence points to clear associations between various metabolic factors and atopic disease, there is still a very limited understanding of the mechanisms that link the two. Dysregulation of central metabolism in metabolic syndrome, obesity, diabetes, and dyslipidemia has a systemic impact on multiple tissues and organs, including cells of the epithelial barrier. While much of epithelial research in allergy has focused on the immune-driven processes, a growing number of recent studies have begun to elucidate the role of metabolic components of disease. This review will revisit clinical evidence for the relationship between metabolic and allergic diseases, as well as discuss potential mechanisms driving metabolic dysfunction of the epithelial barrier. Among them, novel studies highlight links between dysregulation of the insulin pathway, glucose metabolism, and loss of epithelial differentiation in asthma. Studies of mitochondrial structure and bioenergetics in lean and obese asthmatic phenotypes recently came to light to provide a novel framework linking changes in tricarboxylic acid cycle and oxidative phosphorylation with arginine metabolism and nitric oxide bioavailability. New research established connections between arachidonate metabolism, autophagy, and airway disease, as well as systemic dyslipidemia in atopic dermatitis and ceramide changes in the epidermis. Taken together, studies of metabolism have a great potential to open doors to a new class of therapeutic strategies, better characterization of disease endotypes, as well as enable a systems biology approach to mechanisms of allergic disease.

Introduction mRNA COVID-19 vaccines have emerged as a new form of vaccination that has proven to be highly safe and effective against COVID-19 vaccination. Rare adverse events including myocarditis have been reported in the literature. Methods Data were gathered from the electronic medical record of four patients personally treated by the authors. Results Four patients, ages 20 to 30, presented with myocarditis characterized by chest pain, elevations in troponin-I and C-reactive protein, and negative viral serologies two to four days following mRNA vaccine administration. One had a cardiac MRI showing delayed gadolinium enhancement in a subpericardial pattern. All experienced symptom resolution by the following day, and the two who have returned for follow-up had normal troponin-I and CRP values. Discussion Along with previously reported instances, these cases raise suspicion for a possible link between mRNA vaccines and myocarditis.

Background Epithelial barrier dysfunction is a central feature in the pathogenesis of allergic disease. Epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) has been proposed as one mechanism afflicting barrier in asthma. However, genes and pathways involved in aberrant epithelial-mesenchymal signaling, and their relationship to asthma severity, are poorly understood. Methods We used unbiased gene network analysis to evaluate functional convergence in epithelial gene expression signatures across multiple public access transcriptomics datasets of human asthma, followed by text mining to evaluate functional marker relevance of discovered genes. We objectively confirmed these findings in epithelial brushings and primary asthmatic epithelial cells cultured in different biological contexts. Results We found a striking suppression of epithelial differentiation in asthma, overrepresented by insufficiency in insulin and Notch signaling, but with the absence of conventional EMT markers. We identified EFNB2, FGFR1, FGFR2, INSR, IRS2, NOTCH2, TLE1, and NTRK2 as novel markers central to dysregulation of epithelial-mesenchymal signaling, but surprisingly overlooked in asthma research. We found that this “core” signature of asthma is shared by mild, moderate, and severe forms of disease, progressing with severity. Loss of epithelial differentiation induced by insulin deprivation in normal human bronchial epithelial cells cultured in organotypic conditions closely approximated gene expression in asthmatic epithelial brushings. Conclusions The comparative analysis of publically available transcriptomes demonstrated that epithelial barrier dysfunction in asthma is characterized by persistent underlying de-differentiation program with complex etiology. The lasting alteration of the asthmatic epithelial cell transcriptome implicates regulation involving metabolism and epigenetics, beyond EMT driven by injury and repair in chronic inflammation. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

In two independent microarray studies involving primary airway epithelial cells, the relative gene expression of TMEM178 decreases with the progression of asthma severity. Our manuscript creates a paradigm for future studies dissecting the role of Tmem178 in the pathogenesis of severe asthma.

BACKGROUND Food allergy affects an estimated 8% of children and 3% of adults in the United States. Food-allergic individuals increasingly use the web for medical information. We sought to determine the educational quality of food allergy YouTube videos. METHODS We performed a YouTube search using keywords "food allergy" and "food allergies". The 300 most viewed videos were included and analyzed for characteristics, source, and content. Source was further classified as healthcare provider, alternative medicine provider, patient, company, media, and professional society. A scoring system (FA-DQS) was created to evaluate quality (-10 to +34 points). Negative points were assigned for misleading information. Eight reviewers scored each video independently. RESULTS Three hundred videos were analyzed, with a median of 6351.50 views, 19 likes, and 1 dislike. More video presenters were female (54.3%). The most common type of video source was alternative medicine provider (26.3%). Alternative treatments included the following: water fast, juicing, Ayurveda, apple cider, yoga, visualization, and sea moss. Controversial diagnostics included kinesiology, IgG testing, and pulse test. Almost half of the videos depicted a non-IgE-mediated reaction (49.0%).Videos by professional societies had the highest FA-DQS (7.27). Scores for videos by professional societies were significantly different from other sources (P

BACKGROUND Asthma affects >300 million people globally, including 25 million in the United States. Patients with asthma frequently use the Internet as a source of information. YouTube is one of the three most popular Web sites. OBJECTIVE To determine the educational quality of YouTube videos for asthma. METHODS We performed a YouTube search by using the keyword "asthma." The 200 most frequently viewed relevant videos were included in the study. Asthma videos were analyzed for characteristics, source, and content. Source was further classified as asthma health care provider, other health care provider, patient, pharmaceutical company, and professional society and/or media. A scoring system was created to evaluate quality (-10 to 30 points). Negative points were assigned for misleading information. RESULTS Two hundred videos were analyzed, with a median of 18,073.5 views, 31.5 likes, and 2 dislikes, which spanned a median of 172 seconds. More video presenters were male (60.5%). The most common type of video source was other health care providers (34.5%). The most common video content was alternative treatments (38.0%), including live-fish ingestion; reflexology; acupressure and/or acupuncture; Ayurveda; yoga; raw food, vegan, gluten-free diets; marijuana; Buteyko breathing; and salt therapy. Scores for videos supplied by asthma health care providers were statistically significantly different from other sources (p < 0.001) and had the highest average score (9.91). CONCLUSION YouTube videos of asthma were frequently viewed but were a poor source of accurate health care information. Videos by asthma health care providers were rated highest in quality. The allergy/immunology community has a clear opportunity to enhance the value of educational material on YouTube.

We present the case of a 40-year-old male with a past medical history of urticaria pigmentosa (UP) who presented for consultation to the Allergy clinic for an opinion of systemic mastocytosis. Previous workups included elevated serum tryptase level, UP on skin biopsy and an increased number of CD117-positive/CD25-positive mast cells on bone marrow biopsy. This case emphasizes the importance of physical findings such as Darier's sign in patients with hyperpigmented lesions, which virtually supports the diagnosis UP, raises the suspicion for systemic mastocytosis and guides further diagnostic evaluation. This case also outlines the management of systemic mastocytosis.

A 72-year-old woman with a medical history of allergic rhinitis, food allergy, non-IgE-mediated reactions to medications, spinal stenosis and previous laminectomy presented to our institution for thoracic decompression laminectomy, facetectomy and foraminotomy. During the procedure, 5 min after chlorhexidine application and prior to surgical incision, she developed a blanching urticaria on her back (figure 1). The patient had no associated angio-oedema, hypotension, respiratory failure or anaphylaxis. Figure 1 Blanching urticaria (A) on patient’s back 5 min after application of antiseptic agent. Patient's back (B) with complete resolution of urticaria within an hour and 45 min. Surgery was cancelled. She was treated with diphenhydramine 50 mg intravenously …