Project description:Monocytes from patients with type 2 immune disorders exhibited an augmented inflammatory response upon LPS stimulation. RNA-seq analysis demonstrated significant upregulation of inflammatory cytokines, including IL-6, IL-12, and IL-1b. Moreover, there was a conspicuous enrichment of signaling pathways associated with inflammation. ATAC sequencing revealed heightened chromatin accessibility in patient monocytes, particularly in the promoter regions of inflammatory genes.
Project description:Monocytes from patients with type 2 immune disorders exhibited an augmented inflammatory response upon LPS stimulation. RNA-seq analysis demonstrated significant upregulation of inflammatory cytokines, including IL-6, IL-12, and IL-1b. Moreover, there was a conspicuous enrichment of signaling pathways associated with inflammation. ATAC sequencing revealed heightened chromatin accessibility in patient monocytes, particularly in the promoter regions of inflammatory genes.
Project description:BackgroundMonitoring the effects of biologic therapies in skin diseases will benefit from alternative noninvasive skin sampling techniques to evaluate immune pathways in diseased tissue early and longitudinally.ObjectiveTo establish a minimally invasive profiling of skin cytokines for diagnosis, therapeutic response monitoring, and clinical research in atopic dermatitis (AD) and other skin diseases, particularly in pediatric cohorts.MethodsWe developed a novel method for cytokine profiling in the epidermis using skin tape strips (STSs) in a setting designed to maximize the efficiency of protein extraction from STSs. This method was applied to analyze STS protein extracts from the lesional skin of children having AD (n = 41) and normal, healthy controls (n = 22). A total of 20 cytokines were probed with the ultrasensitive Mesoscale multiplex cytokine assay.ResultsA significant increase in interleukin (IL)-1b (P < .01), IL-18 (P < .001), and IL-8 (P < .001) with a decrease in IL-1a (P < .001) in the stratum corneum of AD lesional skin was found. Concurrently, an increase in markers associated with type 2 inflammatory response was readily detectable in AD lesional skin, including C-C motif chemokine ligand (CCL) 22, CCL 17, and thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP). The levels of IL-1b, IL-18, and TSLP exhibited positive correlations with the AD severity index (Scoring AD index) and skin transepidermal water loss (TEWL), whereas an inverse correlation between IL-1a and Scoring AD index and IL-1a and TEWL was found. The levels of CCL17, CCL22, TSLP, IL-22, and IL-17a correlated with skin TEWL measurements.ConclusionUsing minimally invasive STS analysis, we identified cytokine profiles easily sampled in AD lesional skin. The expression of these markers correlated with disease severity and reflected changes in TEWL in lesional skin. These markers suggest new response assessment targets for AD skin.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03168113.
Project description:BackgroundLife-threatening viral diseases such as eczema herpeticum (EH) and eczema vaccinatum (EV) occur in <5% of individuals with atopic dermatitis (AD). The diagnosis of AD, however, excludes all individuals with AD from smallpox vaccination.ObjectivesWe sought to identify circulatory and skin lipid biomarkers associated with EH and EV.MethodsStratum corneum and plasma samples from 15 subjects with AD and a history of EH, 13 age- and gender-matched subjects with AD and without EH history, and 13 healthy nonatopic (NA) controls were analyzed by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry for sphingolipid content. Sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) and ceramide levels were validated in plasma samples from the Atopic Dermatitis Vaccinia Network/Atopic Dermatitis Research Network repository (12 NA, 12 AD, 23 EH) and plasma from 7 subjects with EV and 7 matched subjects with AD. S1P lyase was downregulated in human primary keratinocytes to evaluate its effect on herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) replication in vitro.ResultsThe stratum corneum of patients with EH demonstrated significantly higher levels of free sphingoid bases than those in patients who were NA, indicating enhanced sphingolipid turnover in keratinocytes (P < .05). Plasma from 2 independent cohorts of patients with EH had a significantly increased S1P/ceramide ratio in subjects with EH versus those with AD and or who were NA (P < .01). The S1P level in plasma from subjects with EV was twice the level in plasma from subjects with AD (mean = 1,533 vs 732 pmol/mL; P < .001). Downregulation of S1P lyase expression with silencing RNA led to an increased S1P level and doubled HSV-1 titer in keratinocytes.ConclusionsOur data point to long-term abnormalities in the S1P signaling system as a biomarker for previous disseminated viral diseases and a potential treatment target in recurring infections.
Project description:Asthma, chronic urticaria, and atopic dermatitis are some of the most numerous allergic diseases affecting children. Recent advances in the understanding of their specific intracellular molecular pathways have led to the approval of monoclonal antibodies targeting definite inflammatory molecules in order to control symptoms and improve quality of life. Less is known about other allergic and immunologic disorders such as rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps, eosinophilic esophagitis, anaphylaxis, and food allergy undergoing allergen immunotherapy. The increasing evidence of the molecular mechanisms underlying their pathogeneses made it possible to find in children new indications for known biological drugs, such as omalizumab and dupilumab, and to develop other ones even more specific. Promising results were recently obtained, although few are currently approved in the pediatric population. In this review, we aim to provide the latest evidence about the role, safety, and efficacy of biologic agents to treat allergic and immunologic diseases in children.
Project description:Chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU), also traditionally called Chronic Idiopathic Urticaria (CIU), is a common dermatosis. Its estimated point prevalence is 0.6 to 1%. CSU is defined by spontaneously occurring short-lived and itching wheal, angioedema or both. The current nomenclature of urticaria endorses the use of a clinical rather than an aetiological classification to recognise that a percentage of patients with CSU have an autoimmune rather than idiopathic aetiology. As it happens with other IgE-associated diseases, a better knowledge of urticaria patients requires defining phenotypes. The present knowledge about CSU phenotypes is based on the clinical characteristics, associated comorbidities, the course of the disease and its response to the available effective drugs. But a phenotype is defined as the visible characteristics or traits that are a consequence of the expression of genes as well as the influence of environmental factors. The phenotype is part a consequence of the genotype. To study which is the genotype expressed by the patients suffering of CSU can be interesting. The mechanisms involved in the mast cell activation and the role of the released mast cell mediators are well known allowing explaining of how the wheals appear and disappear. But very little is known about the genetic susceptibility and genes involved in the development of wheals in CSU patients. By means of this work, enough case series was collected to draw reliable conclusions, based on the genetic variations found. In order to assess associations between genetic polymorphisms and the different phenotypes of CSU, large case series of well-documented patients with a relevant history are needed. The primary purpose of this study was to identify the most relevant genes expressed in the tissue and the blood samples from patients with moderate and severe CSU.
Project description:Chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU), also traditionally called Chronic Idiopathic Urticaria (CIU), is a common dermatosis. Its estimated point prevalence is 0.6 to 1%. CSU is defined by spontaneously occurring short-lived and itching wheal, angioedema or both. The current nomenclature of urticaria endorses the use of a clinical rather than an aetiological classification to recognise that a percentage of patients with CSU have an autoimmune rather than idiopathic aetiology. As it happens with other IgE-associated diseases, a better knowledge of urticaria patients requires defining phenotypes. The present knowledge about CSU phenotypes is based on the clinical characteristics, associated comorbidities, the course of the disease and its response to the available effective drugs. But a phenotype is defined as the visible characteristics or traits that are a consequence of the expression of genes as well as the influence of environmental factors. The phenotype is part a consequence of the genotype. To study which is the genotype expressed by the patients suffering of CSU can be interesting. The mechanisms involved in the mast cell activation and the role of the released mast cell mediators are well known allowing explaining of how the wheals appear and disappear. But very little is known about the genetic susceptibility and genes involved in the development of wheals in CSU patients. By means of this work, enough case series was collected to draw reliable conclusions, based on the genetic variations found. In order to assess associations between genetic polymorphisms and the different phenotypes of CSU, large case series of well-documented patients with a relevant history are needed. The primary purpose of this study was to identify the most relevant genes expressed in the tissue and the blood samples from patients with moderate and severe CSU.
Project description:To determine whether lncRNAs are involved in chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU), we analyzed the expression profile of lncRNAs and mRNAs in CSU.