Cytokine Expression in CD3+ Cells in an Infant with Food Protein-Induced Enterocolitis Syndrome (FPIES): Case Report

Food protein-induced enterocolitis syndrome (FPIES) is a non-IgE-mediated food allergy characterized by severe vomiting, diarrhea, and often failure to thrive in infants. Symptoms typically resolve after the triggering food-derived protein is removed from the diet and recur within few hours after the re-exposure to the causal protein. The diagnosis is based on clinical symptoms and a positive food challenge. In this study, we report a case of FPIES to rice in an 8-month-old boy. We performed a double-blind placebo-controlled food challenge (DBPCFC) to rice and we measured the intracellular T cell expression of interleukin-4 (IL-4); IL-10, and interferon γ (IFN-γ) pre-and post-challenge during an acute FPIES reaction and when tolerance to rice had been achieved. For the first time we describe an increase in T cell IL-4 and decrease in IFN-γ expression after a positive challenge with rice (i.e. rice triggered a FPIES attack) and an increase in T cell IL-10 expression after rice challenge 6 months later after a negative challenge (i.e., the child had acquired tolerance to rice) in an 8 month old with documented FPIES to rice. A Th2 activation associated with high IL-4 levels may contribute to the pathophysiology of the disease. On the other hand, T cell-derived IL-10 may play a role in the acquisition of immunotolerance by regulating the Th1 and Th2 responses

Same diet, different strategies : variability of individual feeding habits across three populations of Ambrosi’s cave salamander (Hydromantes ambrosii)

European cave salamanders of the genus Hydromantes are a group of eight species endemic to Italy and south-eastern France. Knowledge on the trophic niche of European Hydromantes is poor, and the few available studies only partially investigate their feeding habits. We performed an indepth study on the trophic niche of the Ambrosi's cave salamander (H. ambrosii), assessing the potential divergences among three different populations. All the populations had a similar diet composition, showing a wider trophic niche in fall compared to spring. In only one population, "true specialists" were present; however, in all three populations, generalist individuals always represented the larger proportion. Interspecific and intraspecific competition did not play an important role in determining individual dietary specialisation in H. ambrosii; contrarily, the characteristics of the surrounding environment seemed to be an important factor. The best body conditions were observed in the population located in the site where the non-arboreal vegetation cover was the highest. Besides providing new information on the trophic niche of H. ambrosii, we here showed that studies encompassing both intrinsic and extrinsic factors at the population level are needed to fully understand the trophic dynamics occurring among European cave salamanders

Aquatic and semiaquatic Heteroptera (Nepomorpha and Gerromorpha) fauna of Greek holiday islands (Rhodes, Crete and Corfu) with first records of three species from Europe and Greece

Csabai, Zoltán, Soós, Nándor, Berchi, Gavril Marius, Cianferoni, Fabio, Boda, Pál, Móra, Arnold (2017): Aquatic and semiaquatic Heteroptera (Nepomorpha and Gerromorpha) fauna of Greek holiday islands (Rhodes, Crete and Corfu) with first records of three species from Europe and Greece. Zootaxa 4231 (1): 51-69, DOI: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4231.1.

What shapes the trophic niche of European plethodontid salamanders?

The trophic niche is a life trait that identifies the consumer's position in a local food web. Several factors, such as ontogeny, competitive ability and resource availability contribute in shaping species trophic niches. To date, information on the diet of European Hydromantes salamanders are only available for a limited number of species, no dietary studies have involved more than one species of the genus at a time, and there are limited evidences on how multiple factors interact in determining diet variation. In this study we examined the diet of multiple populations of six out of the eight European cave salamanders, providing the first data on the diet for five of them. In addition, we assessed whether these closely related generalist species show similar diet and, for each species, we tested whether season, age class or sex influence the number and the type of prey consumed. Stomach condition (empty/full) and the number of prey consumed were strongly related to seasonality and to the activity level of individuals. Empty stomachs were more frequent in autumn, in individuals far from cave entrance and in juveniles. Diet composition was significantly different among species. Hydromantes imperialis and H. supramontis were the most generalist species; H. flavus and H. sarrabusensis fed mostly on Hymenoptera and Coleoptera Staphylinidae, while H. genei and H. ambrosii mostly consumed Arachnida and Endopterygota larvae. Furthermore, we detected seasonal shifts of diet in the majority of the species examined. Conversely, within each species, we did not find diet differences between females, males and juveniles. Although being assumed to have very similar dietary habits, here Hydromantes species were shown to be characterized by a high divergence in diet composition and in the stomach condition of individuals

Data Descriptor: Field-recorded data on the diet of six species of European Hydromantes cave salamanders

The availability of data on the feeding habits of species of conservation value may be of great importance to develop analyses for both scientific and management purposes. Stomach flushing is a harmless technique that allowed us to collect extensive data on the feeding habits of six Hydromantes species. Here, we present two datasets originating from a three-year study performed in multiple seasons (spring and autumn) on 19 different populations of cave salamanders. The first dataset contains data of the stomach content of 1,250 salamanders, where 6,010 items were recognized; the second one reports the size of the intact prey items found in the stomachs. These datasets integrate considerably data already available on the diet of the European plethodontid salamanders, being also of potential use for large scale meta-analyses on amphibian diet

Hemiptera records from Lake Spechtensee and from Southern Styria (Austria)

Hemiptera records gained in July 2015 in course of the 7th European Hemiptera Congress in Styria are presented. In total, 144 Auchenorrhyncha, 143 Heteroptera, 13 Psylloidea and 2 Aphididae species were collected. Ribautodelphax imitans (Delphacidae), Eurhadina saageri (Cicadellidae), Notonecta maculata (Notonectidae), Notonecta meridionalis (Notonectidae) and Polymerus cognatus (Miridae) are new records for Styria

Recent advances in food allergy

Food allergy is a public health issue that has significantly increased worldwide in the past decade, affecting consumers’ quality of life and making increasing demands on health service resources. Despite recent advances in many areas of diagnosis and treatment, our general knowledge of the basic mechanisms of the disease remain limited i.e., not at pace with the exponential number of new cases and the explosion of new technologies. Many important key questions remain: What defines a major allergen? Why do some individuals develop food allergies and others do not? Which are the environmental factors? Could the environmental factors be monitored through epigenetics or modified by changes in the microbiome? Can tolerance to food be induced? Why are some foods more likely to trigger allergies than others? Does the route and timing of exposure have any role on sensitization? These and many other related questions remain unanswered. In this short review some of these topics are addressed in the light of recent advances in the area

WAO consensus on definition of food allergy severity (DEFASE)

Background: While several scoring systems for the severity of anaphylactic reactions have been developed, there is a lack of consensus on definition and categorisation of severity of food allergy disease as a whole. Aim: To develop an international consensus on the severity of food allergy (DEfinition of Food Allergy Severity, DEFASE) scoring system, to be used globally. Methods phase 1: We conducted a mixed-method systematic review (SR) of 11 databases for published and unpublished literature on severity of food allergy management and set up a panel of international experts. Phase 2: Based on our findings in Phase 1, we drafted statements for a two-round modified electronic Delphi (e-Delphi) survey. A purposefully selected multidisciplinary international expert panel on food allergy (n = 60) was identified and sent a structured questionnaire, including a set of statements on different domains of food allergy severity related to symptoms, health-related quality of life, and economic impact. Participants were asked to score their agreement on each statement on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from "strongly agree" to "strongly disagree". Median scores and percentage agreements were calculated. Consensus was defined a priori as being achieved if 70% or more of panel members rated a statement as "strongly agree" to "agree" after the second round. Based on feedback, 2 additional online voting rounds were conducted. Results: We received responses from 92% of Delphi panel members in round 1 and 85% in round 2. Consensus was achieved on the overall score and in all of the 5 specific key domains as essential components of the DEFASE score. Conclusions: The DEFASE score is the first comprehensive grading of food allergy severity that considers not only the severity of a single reaction, but the whole disease spectrum. An international consensus has been achieved regarding a scoring system for food allergy disease. It offers an evaluation grid, which may help to rate the severity of food allergy. Phase 3 will involve validating the scoring system in research settings, and implementing it in clinical practice