Complement activation capacity in plasma before and during high-dose prednisolone treatment and tapering in exacerbations of Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis

BACKGROUND: Ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease (CD) are characterized by intestinal inflammation mainly caused by a disturbance in the balance between cytokines and increased complement (C) activation. Our aim was to evaluate possible associations between C activation capacity and prednisolone treatment. METHODS: Plasma from patients with exacerbations of UC (n = 18) or CD (n = 18) were collected before and during high dose prednisolone treatment (1 mg/kg body weight) and tapering. Friedman's two way analysis of variance, Mann-Whitney U test and Wilcoxon signed-rank sum test were used RESULTS: Before treatment, plasma from CD patients showed significant elevations in all C-mediated analyses compared to the values obtained from 38 healthy controls (p < 0.02), and in mannan binding lectin (MBL)-concentration and MBL-C4-activation capacity (AC) values compared to UC patients (p < 0.02). Before treatment, plasma from UC patients showed significant elevations only in the classical pathway-mediated C3-AC compared to values obtained from healthy controls (p < 0.01). After treatment was initiated, significant reductions, which persisted during follow-up, were observed in the classical pathway-mediated C3-AC and MBL-C4-AC in plasma from CD patients (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Our findings indicate that C activation capacity is up-regulated significantly in plasma from CD patients. The decreases observed after prednisolone treatment reflect a general down-regulation in immune activation

The asthma epidemic and our artificial habitats

BACKGROUND: The recent increase in childhood asthma has been a puzzling one. Recent views focus on the role of infection in the education of the immune system of young children. However, this so called hygiene hypothesis fails to answer some important questions about the current trends in asthma or to account for environmental influences that bear little relation to infection. DISCUSSION: The multi-factorial nature of asthma, reflecting the different ways we tend to interact with our environment, mandates that we look at the asthma epidemic from a broader perspective. Seemingly modern affluent lifestyles are placing us increasingly in static, artificial, microenvironments very different from the conditions prevailed for most part of our evolution and shaped our organisms. Changes that occurred during the second half of the 20th century in industrialized nations with the spread of central heating/conditioning, building insulation, hygiene, TV/PC/games, manufactured food, indoor entertainment, cars, medical care, and sedentary lifestyles all seem to be depriving our children from the essential inputs needed to develop normal airway function (resistance). Asthma according to this view is a manifestation of our respiratory maladaptation to modern lifestyles, or in other words to our increasingly artificial habitats. The basis of the artificial habitat notion may lie in reduced exposure of innate immunity to a variety of environmental stimuli, infectious and non-infectious, leading to reduced formulation of regulatory cells/cytokines as well as inscribed regulatory pathways. This could contribute to a faulty checking mechanism of non-functional Th2 (and likely Th1) responses, resulting in asthma and other immuno-dysregulation disorders. SUMMARY: In this piece I discuss the artificial habitat concept, its correspondence with epidemiological data of asthma and allergy, and provide possible immunological underpinning for it from an evolutionary perspective of health and disease

Upper airway inflammation in waste handlers exposed to bioaerosols

Aims: To examine work associated upper airway inflammation in 31 waste handlers, and to correlate these findings with personally monitored exposure to different bioaerosol components. Methods: Cell differentials, interleukin 8 (IL-8), myeloperoxidase (MPO), and eosinophilic cationic protein (ECP) were examined in NAL (nasal lavage), and swelling of the nasal mucosa was determined by acoustic rhinometry before work start on Monday and the following Thursday. Bioaerosol exposure was determined by personal full shift exposure measurements on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday and analysed for total bacteria, fungal spores, endotoxin, and ß(1→3)-glucans. Results: The increased percentage of neutrophils from Monday (28%) to Thursday (46%) correlated with increases in ECP (r(S) = 0.71, p < 0.001) and MPO (r(S) = 0.38, p < 0.05), and showed a close to significant correlation with nasal swelling (r(S) = -0.55, p = 0.07). The Thursday levels of neutrophils, MPO, and IL-8 were associated with the exposure to fungal spores (range 0–2.0 x 10(6)/m(3)) and endotoxin (range 4–183 EU/m(3)) measured the day before, and the median exposure to ß(1→3)-glucans (range 3–217 ng/m(3)), respectively (r(S) = 0.47–0.54, p < 0.01). Swelling of the nasal mucosa was associated with the fungal spore and ß(1→3)-glucan exposure (r(S) = 0.58–0.59, p < 0.05). Conclusion: These results are based on a relatively small population, and conclusions must be drawn with care. The results suggested that a moderate exposure to fungal spores, endotoxins, and ß(1→3)-glucans during waste handling induced upper airway inflammation dominated by neutrophil infiltration and swelling of the nasal mucosa

Cod protein powder lowered serum nonesterified fatty acids and increased total bile acid concentrations in healthy, lean, physically active adults: a randomized double-blind study

Background: Fish fillet consumption is associated with beneficial health effects; however, little is known about whether consuming other parts of the fish such as head, backbone, skin, cut-offs, and entrails (collectively known as residuals) will provide comparable effects. Objective: The aim of the study was to investigate if daily supplementation with cod residual protein powder would impact lipid metabolism in healthy adults. Methods: Forty healthy, lean, physically active participants (18 women, 22 men) with normal body mass index consumed 8.1 g of proteins daily from cod residual protein powder (Cod-RP) or placebo (control) for 8 weeks. Results: Cod residual protein powder supplementation lowered fasting serum nonesterified fatty acids and increased serum total bile acid concentrations significantly when compared with control supplementation. Fasting serum low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and apolipoprotein (Apo) B concentrations, as well as the total cholesterol:high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and ApoB:ApoA1 ratios, were significantly decreased within the Cod-RP group, but these changes were not different from the control group. Fasting serum concentrations of triacylglycerol, total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, and ApoA1 were not changed within or between groups. Conclusion: Eight weeks of daily supplementation with 8.1 g Cod-RP seems to be sufficient to affect lipid metabolism in healthy, lean, physically active adults