Current Pharmaceutical Design - Volume 20, Issue 6, 2014

Recent evidence has brought to the spotlight plant-derived polyphenols as a promising tool to prevent allergy. The worldwide increase of allergic disease, probably relying on many factors including immune response to stressors and its loss in complexity, environmental pressure by pollutants and chemical allergens, changes in lifestyle and lifespan, failure of conventional treatments to prevent and treat allergy, has strongly su Read More

Immune system activation and inflammation are deeply involved in the pathogenesis of a variety of diseases including infections, autoimmunity and malignancy as well as allergy and asthma. The incidence of allergy and asthma has significantly increased during the past decades. Still the background of this phenomenon is not well understood. The contribution of life style and habits are heavily discussed. Among them is a t Read More

Carapa guianensis Aublet (Meliaceae), also known as andiroba, is used in popular medicine in Brazil and other countries encompassing the Amazon rainforest. Virtually all parts of the andiroba tree are utilized, including the seed’s oil, which is employed to treat inflammation and infections. The medicinal properties of C. guianensis have been attributed to the presence of limonoids, which are tetranortriterpenoids. We have previ Read More

Type-1 allergic diseases consist of two phases. An inductive phase comprises IgE formation to allergens based on the immune system being biased to predominant T-helper type 2 responses. In a triggering phase allergic symptoms are triggered due to a robust secretion of mediators from mast cells and other cells after re-exposure to the same allergen. Various polyphenols, found in foods and plant sources, have potent anti-alle Read More

Polyphenols contained in FGM from Negroamaro (N) and Koshu (K) Vitis vinifera have been shown to exhibit several immunomodulating activities. For instance, mice affected by experimental colitis when administered with K-FGM showed an attenuation of the inflammatory process. In murine asthma, K-FGM reduced IgE production and eosinophil number in bronchial alveolar lavage fluid. In vitro, both N- and K-FGM were able t Read More

Asthma is an allergy-mediated inflammatory disease characterised by infiltration of the airway with mast cells, lymphocytes, and eosinophils. The disease is induced by co-ordination of T-helper cell type 2 (Th2) cytokines and inflammatory signal molecules. Fruits and vegetables are a rich source of polyphenolic bioactive compounds, which have been observed to have health-promoting properties when consumed by huma Read More

The prevalence of allergic diseases has increased worldwide during the past two decades. Change of dietary habit is thought to be one of the environmental factors, which has caused such an increase and worsened allergic symptoms, which suggests that an appropriate dietary habit may substantially prevent the onset of allergic diseases and ameliorate allergic symptoms. Flavonoids, which are polyphenolic plant secondar Read More

Subcutaneous allergen specific immunotherapy is an effective treatment of IgE-mediated allergies, but it requires repeated allergen injections with a risk of systemic allergic reactions. Other routes of immunization had been explored to improve patient compliance and safety. Skin is not only a physical barrier between the body and outside world, but also an important immune organ eliciting innate and adaptive immune functio Read More

A fundamental means of allergic disease prevention, via the use of functional food factors, is desirable. A number of studies on the role of functional food factors in preventing allergic diseases have been reported. In this review, the preventive effects of polyphenols, carotenoids, polysaccharides, and non-digestible oligosaccharides on allergic diseases are discussed.

Food allergy is an increasingly prevalent problem all over the world and especially in westernized countries, and there is an unmet medical need for an effective form of therapy. During childhood natural tolerance development is frequent, but some children with cow's milk or hen's egg allergy and the majority of children with peanut allergy will remain allergic until adulthood, limiting not only the diet of patients but also their qu Read More

Food allergy is on the rise and has become a growing food safety concern. The main treatment is strictly avoiding allergens in the diet. However, this is difficult to do because foods are sometimes contaminated with allergens due to processing of different foods with the same machinery. For this reason, accidental ingestion of trace amount of allergenic proteins is common. For children with severe food allergy, this could be lif Read More

Food allergies, defined as an immune response to food proteins, affect as many as 8% of young children and 2% of adults in westernized countries, and their prevalence appears to be rising like all allergic diseases. In addition to well-recognized urticaria and anaphylaxis triggered by IgE antibody–mediated immune responses, there is an increasing recognition of cell-mediated disorders such as eosinophilic esophagitis an Read More

There may be a causal relationship between intake of n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) and childhood allergic diseases. This can be explained by plausible biological mechanisms involving eicosanoid mediators produced from the n-6 PUFA arachidonic acid. Long chain n-3 PUFAs are found in fish and fish oils. These fatty acids act to oppose the actions of n-6 PUFAs. Thus, it is considered that n-3 PUFAs will lower th Read More

IgE-mediated food allergy is a major and increasing health issue with significant impairment of quality of life and significant morbidity and mortality. It affects children, as well as adolescents and adults. This review focuses on novelties in the diagnosis of food allergy. Correct diagnosis relies upon history supplemented by quantification of specific IgE (sIgE) antibodies and/or skin tests. Unfortunately, as these tests do not demonstra Read More

Currently management of food allergy is mainly based on absolute avoidance of the offending food(s) and the use of rescue medication. However, the risk of severe or life-threatening reactions due to inadvertent exposure, nutritional imbalance and social isolation raises the demand of disease-modifying treatments. The aim of the different treatments is to allow patients to safely ingest the offending food(s). However this unresp Read More

Flavonoids are secondary products of plants that include thousands of compounds classified in several classes. Preclinical studies mainly carried out in rodents suggest that they may have a role in the prevention of immunoglobulin E (IgE) synthesis and mast cell degranulation. Interestingly, using animal models with allergic asthma, it can be concluded that preventive treatment with particular flavonoid classes can reduce airway h Read More

The incidence of allergic diseases over the past few decades has shown a significant increase. Many epidemiological studies have shown that dietary factors are involved in the occurrence and development of allergic diseases, especially in early childhood. Hypotheses on the occurrence of a variety of allergic diseases (immunological mechanism) have provided a theoretical basis for dietary interventions for allergic diseases Read More

There are a number of atopic conditions that involve mast cells ranging from common allergies to arthritis and chronic pelvic pain syndrome. In addition to the well known allergic triggers, many food substances, drugs, as well as physical and mental stressful conditions could trigger mast cell activation in the absence of any allergic diathesis. The chronicity and morbidity of these conditions and the concern for the “adverse sid Read More

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disorder of the airways. The inflammatory response in asthma is heterogeneous. Allergen specific responses lead to activation of the acquired immune system, via a predominantly IL-5 mediated, eosinophilic pathway. Stimuli such as viruses and bacteria activate the innate immune system, via a predominantly IL-8 mediated, neutrophilic pathway. Asthma has also been demonstrated to involve a s Read More