Background/AimsThe aim of this study was to compare the sleep quality between rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients and healthy controls; and to evaluate the relationship between RA disease activity and sleep quality in Korea.MethodsA total of 130 RA patients and 67 age- and sex-matched healthy controls were enrolled in a comparative study of sleep quality using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). Age, gender, concomitant medication, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, serum C-reactive protein, Beck Depression Inventory second edition (BDI-II), 28 joints disease activity score (DAS28), pain visual analog scale (VAS), and PSQI were analyzed as covariates. We also analyzed the sleep quality of RA patients according to the disease activity (DAS28 ≤ 3.2, 3.2 < DAS28 < 5.1, and DAS28 ≥ 5.1, respectively).ResultsThe total PSQI score and the frequency of poor sleep quality, were higher in the RA patients (5.62 ± 4.19, 38.5%) than in the control subjects (3.57 ± 2.17, 13.4%). The patients with poor sleep quality (PSQI > 5) were older and had a higher BDI-II and VAS score than the patients without sleep disturbance (PSQI ≤ 5). The score in subjective sleep quality, sleep latency, sleep duration, habitual sleep efficiency, sleep disturbance, daytime dysfunction, total PSQI, and frequency of poor sleep quality were increased when RA activity was high.ConclusionsSleep disturbance was observed in RA patients (38.5%), and high RA disease activity was associated with poor sleep quality in Korea.

These findings suggest that circulating IgG autoantibody to FcεRIα in a subset of patients may be involved in the autoimmune mechanism of CSU. Further studies are needed to clarify its clinical significance.

Purpose of review Local allergic rhinitis (LAR) is a recently classified subtype of rhinitis defined by a nasal allergic response in patients without systemic evidence of atopy. Recent studies have reported the prevalence, clinical course, culprit allergens, diagnostic methods and treatment outcomes of LAR. The purpose of this review is to summarize the most relevant and updated scientific evidence for LAR, especially focusing on its prevalence and clinical characteristics. Recent findings LAR is found in a significant proportion (3.7–61.9%) of patients previously diagnosed with nonallergic rhinitis, but the prevalence may differ among ethnic groups and countries. Common allergens of LAR are similar to those of allergic rhinitis, in which house dust mites are the most common cause, followed by grass pollen, tree pollen, weed pollen and animal dander confirmed by provocation tests. Although the nasal provocation test to a single allergen is considered the gold standard method, the detection of allergen-specific IgE and other inflammatory mediators from nasal secretions and the basophil activation test can assist in the diagnosis of LAR. Conjunctivitis and asthma are the most common comorbid conditions, and the occurrence rate of asthma increases over period. However, the conversion rate to allergic rhinitis was not significantly different between LAR and healthy controls. Summary LAR is a well-differentiated entity of rhinitis, which should be considered in patients with persistent and severe symptoms without any systemic evidence of atopy. Further research is needed to investigate the long-term outcome, and geographic and ethnic differences of LAR.

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Aspirin-exacerbated respiratory disease (AERD) is an adult-onset upper and lower airway disease consisting of eosinophilic nasal polyps, asthma, and respiratory reactions to cyclooxygenase 1 (COX-1) inhibitors. Management includes guideline-based treatment of asthma and sinus disease, avoidance of COX-1 inhibitors, and for some patients aspirin desensitization followed by high-dose aspirin therapy. Despite this, many patients have inadequately controlled symptoms and require multiple sinus surgeries. In this review, we discuss the current standard approaches to the management of AERD, and we introduce several therapeutics under development that may hold promise for the treatment of AERD.

Asthma is a common chronic disease with several variant phenotypes and endotypes. NSAID-exacerbated respiratory disease (NERD) is one such endotype characterized by asthma, chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) with nasal polyps, and hypersensitivity to aspirin/cyclooxygenase-1 inhibitors. NERD is more associated with severe asthma than other asthma phenotypes. Regarding diagnosis, aspirin challenge tests via the oral or bronchial route are a standard diagnostic method; reliable in vitro diagnostic tests are not available. Recent studies have reported various biomarkers of phenotype, diagnosis, and prognosis. In this review, we summarized the known potential biomarkers of NERD that are distinct from those of aspirin-tolerant asthma. We also provided an overview of the different NERD subgroups.