These results show that even in a desert environment, pollens and house-dust allergens may be important sensitizing allergens. They also illustrate how practices that "green" the desert can affect public health.

Background: The importance of fungal allergens in the development of allergic diseases in a desert environment is uncertain. This study evaluated the prevalence of IgE sensitization to moulds among patients with allergic respiratory diseases in Kuwait – a desert country. Methods: A total of 810 patients (male:female ratio 1.4) with a mean age of 32.3 years (range 2–76 years) with extrinsic asthma or allergic rhinitis were studied. Sera from the patients were tested by the CAP-RAST method for specific IgE to 6 fungi (Penicillium, Cladosporium, Aspergillus, Candida, Alternaria and Helminthosporium). For comparison house dust mite and Bermuda grass were also assessed. Results: The overall positivity to at least one mould was 20.9%. Among 120 matched control subjects, the value was 5.8%. The value was much higher among patients with asthma alone (45.8%) or both asthma and rhinitis (28.3%) than those with rhinitis alone (11.8%; p < 0.001). Asthmatic children had the highest sensitization rate (66.0% in the 7- to 12-year age group), which declined sharply with age. Among asthmatics, Candida and Aspergillus had the highest sensitization rates (23.1 and 21.3%, respectively), followed by Helminthosporium (18.8%), Cladosporium (15.9%), Alternaria (14.6%) and Penicillium (13.9%). The values for mite and Bermuda grass were 41.2 and 54.6%, respectively. Among asthmatic children, severe asthma was significantly more frequent among mould-positive (51.6%) than mould-negative patients (17.5%; p < 0.0001). Conclusions: Even in this desert environment, sensitization to moulds is quite common among patients with allergic respiratory diseases, with a striking preponderance among children with asthma. Mould allergy could also be an important factor determining asthma severity in this environment.

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These results show that the normal total IgE values in the young adult Kuwaiti population are generally high and that the distribution of the values is so wide that the diagnostic value of total serum IgE in this community is likely to be very limited.

The objective of this study was to establish a method by which trophectodermal cells originating from individual preimplantation bovine embryos could be perpetuated in monolayer culture. A single, Day-11 bovine embryo collected nonsurgically from a mixed-breed beef cow was cultured in Ham's F10 medium supplemented with fetal bovine serum, sodium pyruvate, insulin, and epidermal growth factor. After 13 d in culture the embryo had adhered to the surface of the plastic culture vessel and a monolayer covering 0.3 cm2 had developed in the manner of a tissue explant. The monolayer was successfully dispersed using trypsin-EDTA and the cells were passaged. Expansion to a 25-cm2 flask was achieved by the 4th passage. By passaging cultures at a dilution ratio of 1:2, cells were maintained for 38 passages before growth slowed. Transfers beyond the 44th passage were unsuccessful. The cell line, designated BE-13, was successfully frozen and thawed at the 9th, 12th, 15th, and 20th passages. The cell line contains both mono- and binucleate cells with a prominent rough endoplasmic reticulum characteristic of ruminant trophoblast cells. Susceptibility to eight bovine viruses was demonstrated. Such cell lines may provide inexpensive systems for the study of trophoblast metabolism and for investigation of the role of the trophoblast in the pathogenesis of selected bovine abortifacient diseases. Because of their range of viral susceptibility, these cells might also be useful for diagnostic purposes.