Proliferative responses of cord blood lymphocytes (CBLs) to food antigens and cord blood IgE concentrations were measured in 37 full term newborn infants for the prediction of allergic disorders. In these 37 infants who were followed up for two years, allergic history of the family was found in four (sensitivity 57.1%) and cord blood IgE concentrations were greater than 0 5 IU/ml in three (sensitivity 42-9%) of seven infants who developed allergic disorders. When CBLs were stimulated twice by ovalbumin or bovine serum albumin, the value of the stimulation index in proliferative responses of CBLs to ovalbumin or bovine serum albumin was greater than 1-5 in six (sensitivity 85-7%) of seven infants who developed allergic disorders. The specificity of the responses of CBLs in the prediction of the development of allergic disorders was 93-3%. The proliferative responses of CBLs to food antigens were useful in the prediction of not only development of allergic disorders but also offending allergens. These observations provide further evidence that sensitisation is occurring in utero. This would appear to be increasingly important in the genesis of early atopic problems. As our follow up is only two years, in utero sensitisation is a prediction for the early development of atopic disease but only longer follow up will show whether this holds good for allergic disorders at any age. (Arch Dis Child 1992;67:1003-

Reduced IFNgamma production ability due to reduced IFNgamma mRNA expression in PBMCs is associated with an elevated serum IgE level in atopic patients.

Denitrification activity and bacterial community constituents were investigated in both well-drained and poorly drained soils of a temperate forest in central Japan by 15 N tracer experiments and a cloning-sequencing approach. Denitrification activity was much higher in wet soil than in dry soil, based on 15 N 15 N ( 30 N 2 ) and 15 N 15 NO ( 46 N 2 O) production. Labeled nitrate ( 15 NO 3 − ) was immediately reduced to 30 N 2 in wet soil, whereas it was only reduced to 46 N 2 O in dry soil. Thus, the wet soil at the lower end of the catchment is a functional site for the scavenging for NO 3 − and N 2 O. Nitrite reductase gene (nirK and nirS) fragments from these soils were PCR amplified, cloned, and sequenced. Both nirK and nirS fragments were detected in the wet soil, whereas only nirK fragments were detected in the dry soil. All the nirK and nirS clones showed less than 90% similarity to known clones. Numerous operational taxonomic units for nirK and nirS were found in the wet soil. Considerable diversification within the largest clade on the nirK phylogenetic tree, which contained no known sequence, was observed in wet soil. Thus, a wet soil environment can provide both the habitat and conditions for the expression of denitrification activity.

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