Objectives To determine the association between a prior history of asthma and diagnosis of sIgAD/CVID. Methods The study was designed as a population-based case-control study, which included sIgAD/CVID cases who met the PAGID/ESID diagnostic criteria from the residents of Olmsted County, MN, in January 1, 1964 through December 31, 2008. Each case had 4 age- and gender-matched controls (two from the community and two from a list of individuals who had undergone an immune work up). We ascertained asthma status by applying predetermined criteria for asthma. Results We identified 39 sIgAD/CVID cases; 26 (66.7%) had sIgAD and the remaining cases had CVID. Of the 39 cases, 51.3% were male and 97.1% were Caucasians. The mean age at the index date (time when one met the criteria) of sIgAD/CVID was 34.2 years. Of the 39 cases, 9 (23%) had a history of asthma prior to index date of sIgAD/CVID; whereas of the 156 controls, 13 (10%) had a history of asthma prior to index date (OR: 2.77, 95%CI: 1.09-7.06, P=.03). A history of asthma (before or after the index date of sIgAD/CVID) was more prevalent among sIgAD/CVID cases (31%) than matched controls (12%) (OR: 3.57, 95%CI: 1.50-8.51, P=.01). Conclusions Asthmatics are more likely to have a diagnosis of sIgAD/CVID compared to non-asthmatics. This association may potentially account for increased risks of bacterial infections among some individuals with asthma.

More than one tenth of the young men were high myopia as one of the risk factor for visual loss. Further studies on high myopia and its complications are needed to improve eye health in Southeast Korea.

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Purpose : In Korea, there have been many epidemiologic studies about allergic diseases of school children, but so far only a few studies of preschool children have been done. Research on preschool children will be a great help to understand the epidemiology of the allergic diseases in the pediatric population. In this perspective, we researched the prevalence and risk factors of allergic diseases in preschool children in Jung-gu, Seoul.Methods : A modified International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood questionnaire survey was done on 917 (male, 492; female, 425) preschool children in Jung-gu area of Seoul in June, 2009. Parents or caregivers answered the questionnaires that asked about the prevalence of allergic diseases and the risk factors.Results : For asthma, the prevalence of "wheeze, ever", "diagnosis" and "treatment, last 12 months" were 18.4%, 5.8% and 2.8%, respectively. For allergic rhinitis (AR), the prevalence of "rhinitis, ever", "diagnosis" and "treatment, last 12 months" were 31.8%, 16.2% and 12.9%, respectively. For atopic dermatitis (AD), the prevalence of "itchy rash, ever", "diagnosis" and "treatment, last 12 months" were 26.1%, 34.3% and 19.0%, respectively. The risk factors of asthma were cesarean section delivery, use of antibiotics and history of bronchiolitis before the age of 2 years. The risk factor of AR was history of asthma. The risk factor of AD was parent allergy. Conclusion :In comparison to preceding studies of preschool children in Seoul, the prevalence of allergic diseases is similar. In comparison to the studies of school children, the prevalence of AR was lower and the prevalence of AD was higher. [Pediatr Allergy Respir Dis(Korea) 2011;21: 165-175]

Background & Aims A few cross-sectional studies reported an increased risk of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) among asthmatics. We conducted a population-based case-control study that applied predetermined criteria for asthma and IBD to determine whether asthma, as a T-helper 2 (Th2) condition, reduces the risk of IBD a Th1 condition. Methods This was a population-based case-control study using criteria-based ascertainment for IBD and asthma. Subjects were all Rochester, Minnesota, residents who had developed IBD between 1964 and 1983 and their age-and gender-matched controls, using 1:1 matching. Controls were randomly selected from the community using the Rochester Epidemiology Project database and confirmed not to have IBD. All cases and controls were merged with the database comprising all Rochester residents with or without asthma between 1964 and 1983. Results Of the 231 IBD cases, 55% had ulcerative colitis and the remainder had Crohn’s disease. Of these, 50.4% were male and 98.1% were Caucasians. The mean age at the time of IBD diagnosis was 33.8 years. Four cases (1.7%) had asthma prior to index date of IBD, whereas two controls (0.9%) had asthma (unadjusted odds ratio: 3.0, 95% CI: 0.31–28.84, P=0.34). Similarly, 16 IBD cases (6.9%) had asthma ever while 12 controls (5.2%) had asthma ever (unadjusted odds ratio: 1.4, 95% CI: 0.62–3.38, p=0.40). Conclusions Asthma as a Th2 condition does not reduce the risk of IBD as a Th1 condition. Because of the limitations of our study and others, the association between asthma and IBD needs to be further studied.

The Cobas u 701 microscopy analyser showed good diagnostic performance. It can be used for rapid screening for UTI and can reduce the number of cultures required.

As the world's population begins to age, retinal degeneration is an increasing problem, and various treatment modalities are being developed. However, there have been no therapies for degenerative retinal conditions that are not characterized by neovascularization. We investigated whether transplantation of mouse adipose tissue-derived stem cells (mADSC) into the intraperitoneal space has a rescue effect on NaIO -induced retinal degeneration in mice. In this study, mADSC transplantation recovered visual function and preserved the retinal outer layer structure compared to the control group without any integration of mADSC into the retina. Moreover, endogenous ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) was elevated in the retinas of mADSC-treated mice. We found that lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or LPS-stimulated monocyte supernatant induced the secretion of granulocyte colony stimulating factor (GCSF), CD54, CXCL10, interleukin-6 (IL-6), and CCL5 from the mADSC by cytokine array. Network inference was conducted to investigate signaling networks related to CNTF regulation. Based on bioinformatics data, the expression of IL-6 was related to the expression of CNTF. Additionally, intravitreal injection of IL-6 in rats produced up-regulation of endogenous CNTF in the retina. mADSC had a rescue effect on retinal degeneration through the up-regulation of endogenous CNTF by IL-6. Thus, transplantation of mADSC could be a potential treatment option for retinal degeneration.

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