Self‐reported drug allergy in a general adult Portuguese population

Clin Exp Allergy. 2004 Oct;34(10):1597-601. Self-reported drug allergy in a general adult Portuguese population. Gomes E, Cardoso MF, Praça F, Gomes L, Mariño E, Demoly P. Serviço de Imunoalergologia, Hospital Maria Pia, Porto, Portugal. [email protected] Abstract AIM: To estimate the prevalence of self-reported drug allergy in adults. METHODS: Cross-sectional survey of a general adult population from Porto (all of whom were living with children involved in the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood-phase three), during the year 2002, using a self-administered questionnaire. RESULTS: The prevalence of self-reported drug allergy was 7.8% (181/2309): 4.5% to penicillins or other beta-lactams, 1.9% to aspirin or other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and 1.5% to other drugs. In the group 'allergic to beta-lactams', the most frequently implicated drug was penicillin G or V (76.2%) followed by the association of amoxicillin and clavulanic acids (14.3%). In the group 'allergic to NSAIDs', acetylsalicylic acid (18.2%) and ibuprofen (18.2%) were the most frequently identified drugs, followed by nimesulide and meloxicam. Identification of the exact name of the involved drug was possible in less than one-third of the patients, more often within the NSAID group (59.5%). Women were significantly more likely to claim a drug allergy than men (10.2% vs. 5.3%). The most common manifestations were cutaneous (63.5%), followed by cardiovascular symptoms (35.9%). Most of the reactions were immediate, occurring on the first day of treatment (78.5%). Only half of the patients were submitted to drug allergy investigations. The majority (86.8%) completely avoided the suspected culprit drug thereafter. CONCLUSIONS: The results showed that self-reported allergy to drugs is highly prevalent and poorly explored. Women seem to be more susceptible. beta-lactams and NSAIDs are the most frequently concerned drugs. PMID: 15479276 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE

Tiotropium inhibits proinflammatory microparticle generation by human bronchial and endothelial cells

Tiotropium is a muscarinic antagonist that reduces the risk of acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, possibly through an as yet incompletely characterized anti-inflammatory activity. We hypothesized that muscarinic activation of bronchial epithelial cells and endothelial cells causes the release of proinflammatory microparticles and that tiotropium inhibits the phenomenon. Microparticle generation was assessed by a functional assay, by flow cytometry and by NanoSight technology. Immortalized bronchial epithelial cells (16HBE) and umbilical vein endothelial cells were treated with acetylcholine in the presence of varying concentrations of tiotropium. Intracellular calcium concentration, extracellular regulated kinase phosphorylation and chemokine content in the conditioned media were assessed by commercial kits. Acetylcholine causes microparticle generation that is completely inhibited by tiotropium (50 pM). Microparticles generated by acetylcholine-stimulated cells increase the synthesis of proinflammatory mediators in an autocrine fashion. Acetylcholine-induced upregulation of microparticle generation is inhibited by an inhibitor of extracellular regulated kinase phosphorylation and by a phospholipase C inhibitor. Tiotropium blocks both extracellular regulated kinase phosphorylation and calcium mobilization, consistent with the hypothesis that the drug prevents microparticle generation through inhibition of these critical pathways. These results might contribute to explain the effect of tiotropium in reducing acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

The emerging role of exosome and microvesicle- (EMV-) based cancer therapeutics and immunotherapy

This document is the Accepted Manuscript version of the following article: Colin Moore, Uchini Kosgodage, Sigrun Lange, and Jameel M. Inal, ‘The emerging role of exosome and microvesicle- (EMV-) based cancer therapeutics and immunotherapy’, International Journal of Cancer, Vol. 141 (3): 428-436, August 2017. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/ijc.30672. © 2017 UICC. This manuscript version may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving.There is an urgent need to develop new combination therapies beyond existing surgery, radio- and chemo-therapy, perhaps initially combining chemotherapy with the targeting specificities of immunotherapy. For this, strategies to limit inflammation and immunosuppression and evasion in the tumour microenvironment are also needed. To devise effective new immunotherapies we must first understand tumour immunology, including the roles of T cells, macrophages, myeloid suppressor cells and of exosomes and microvesicles (EMVs) in promoting angiogenesis, tumour growth, drug resistance and metastasis. One promising cancer immunotherapy discussed uses cationic liposomes carrying tumour RNA (RNA-lipoplexes) to provoke a strong anti-viral-like (cytotoxic CD8+ ) anti-tumour immune response. Mesenchymal stem cell-derived EMVs, with their capacity to migrate towards inflammatory areas including solid tumours, have also been used. As tumour EMVs clearly exacerbate the tumour microenvironment, another therapy option could involve EMV removal. Affinity-based methods to deplete EMVs, including an immunodepletion, antibody-based affinity substrate, are therefore considered. Finally EMV and exosome-mimetic nanovesicles (NVs) delivery of siRNA or chemotherapeutic drugs that target tumours using peptide ligands for cognate receptors on the tumour cells are discussed. We also touch upon the reversal of drug efflux in EMVs from cancer cells which can sensitize cells to chemotherapy. The use of immunotherapy in combination with the advent of EMVs provides potent therapies to various cancers.Peer reviewe

Differential Association between HERG and KCNE1 or KCNE2

The small proteins encoded by KCNE1 and KCNE2 have both been proposed as accessory subunits for the HERG channel. Here we report our investigation into the cell biology of the KCNE-HERG interaction. In a co-expression system, KCNE1 was more readily co-precipitated with co-expressed HERG than was KCNE2. When forward protein trafficking was prevented (either by Brefeldin A or engineering an ER-retention/retrieval signal onto KCNE cDNA) the intracellular abundance of KCNE2 and its association with HERG markedly increased relative to KCNE1. HERG co-localized more completely with KCNE1 than with KCNE2 in all the membrane-processing compartments of the cell (ER, Golgi and plasma membrane). By surface labeling and confocal immunofluorescence, KCNE2 appeared more abundant at the cell surface compared to KCNE1, which exhibited greater co-localization with the ER-marker calnexin. Examination of the extracellular culture media showed that a significant amount of KCNE2 was extracellular (both soluble and membrane-vesicle-associated). Taken together, these results suggest that during biogenesis of channels HERG is more likely to assemble with KCNE1 than KCNE2 due to distinctly different trafficking rates and retention in the cell rather than differences in relative affinity. The final channel subunit constitution, in vivo, is likely to be determined by a combination of relative cell-to-cell expression rates and differential protein processing and trafficking

John Morgan O’Connell and Salwa E-Shawan Castelo-Branco (eds.), Music and Conflict (2010)

no abstract --- JSTOR link to article (restricted access) https://www.jstor.org/stable/2431812

일본군 성노예 피해 생존자 최할머니의 삶과 음악

My dissertation is a study of the musical life of Korean survivors of the Japanese "comfort women" system, by which tens or perhaps hundreds of thousands of girls and young women were forced into sexual slavery to Japanese soldiers during the Pacific War. Approximately two hundred fifty South Korean women have come forward and given testimony as former sex slaves. There are many reasons why I chose this subject: the fact that these women were compelled to learn and perform Japanese and Korean songs in the "comfort station" (see Hanguk jeongsindae 1993, 1995); the fact that they traveled all over the Pacific, East and Southeast Asia and collected together songs of many countries, which, taken together, are a kind of map of the consequences of Japanese imperialism; the fact that many of them were sold or pressured into the South Korean domestic entertainment industry after the war, singing, pouring drinks, and in some cases selling their bodies to American and Korean soldiers and civilians. Much like outsiders such as Jews and Gypsies in Eastern Europe, the former sexual slaves, marginalized in Korean postcolonial society, often took up musical professions. In general, colonial and postcolonial East Asia demonstrate a close relation of entertainment labor to sexual exploitation and violence. 내 학위논문은 한국인 일본군 성노예(‘종군위안부’) 생존자들의 음악과 삶에 대한 연구이다. 연구 주제로 일본군 성노예를 택한 배경은 여러 가지이다. 이 여성들은 ‘위안소’에서 일본과 한국의 노래를 억지로 불러야 했다. 이들은 태평양과 동아시아, 동남아시아를 돌아다니면서 여러 나라의 노래를 듣고 불렀다. 이들 다수는 종전 후 남한 내 향락산업에 팔리거나 끌려들어가 노래하고 접대하고 심지어 미국인과 한국인, 군인과 민간인을 대상으로 성매매에 나서기도 했다. 동유럽의 유대인이나 집시같은 주변인과 흡사하게 일본군 성노예 생존자 여성들은 한국의 탈식민 사회에서 주변인화되면서 음악과 관련된 직업에 종사하는 경우가 많았다. 연구의 가장 큰 목표는 이 여성들의 음악을 체험의 기록으로서, 그리고 수난과 생존의 과정으로서 탐구하려는 것이다. 일본군 성노예 여성들의 경우는 인간의 영혼이란 무엇인가, 영혼은 어떻게 수난을 당하고 음악을 통해 견뎌내는가, 살아남고 자기를 규정하고 자기를 타인과 관련지우고, 기억하고 잊고, … 등등의 과정에서 음악의 역할이란 무엇인가를 어렴풋이나마 알 수 있게 해 준다. 유대인 홀로코스트 생존자들의 노래에 관한 여러 음악학자의 선행연구가 자극제가 되어 주었다