Allergy: Effects on Health and Quality of Life

ABSTRACT:Food allergy has been extensively studied with the advancement of technology and research strategy which gives more insight to the etiology of the condition. The comparative study of various diagnostic and therapeutic methods are crucial to develop a comprehensive management plan for allergic reaction triggered by the accidental food consumption. The diagnosis is based on cumulative results from SPT, IgE titration and oral food challenge. Foodinduced allergic reaction and immunotherapy provides an alternative to the use of symptoms-relieving anti-histamine injector. Long term study is needed to evaluate the efficacy of OIT since it is yet to be concluded that the therapy induces permanent tolerance or simply short-term desensitization to the food. Phase II clinical trial should be carried out for the complementary medicine approach. Latest discovery of using interferon-gamma for tolerance induction was enlighten, but its mechanism and other strategy to prolong the tolerance effect remained to be elucidated. Multiparameter study should be included in future therapeutic study, which may include genetic analysis, histological examination, proteomics and bioinformatics, to assess the pathophysiology and the changes at the molecular, cellular and histological level in order to better equipped us towards diagnosis and management of the condition

Wound Healing Property of Curcuminoids as a Microcapsule-Incorporated Cream

Curcuminoids have been used for the management of burns and wound healing in traditional Chinese medicine practices but the wide application of curcuminoids as a healing agent for wounds has always been a known problem due to their poor solubility, bioavailability, colour staining properties, as well as due to their intense photosensitivity and the need for further formulation approaches to maximise their various properties in order for them to considerably contribute towards the wound healing process. In the present study, a complex coacervation microencapsulation was used to encapsulate curcuminoids using gelatin B and chitosan. This study also focused on studying and confirming the potential of curcuminoids in a microencapsulated form as a wound healing agent. The potential of curcuminoids for wound management was evaluated using an in vitro human keratinocyte cell (HaCaT) model and the in vivo heater-inflicted burn wound model, providing evidence that the antioxidant activities of both forms of curcuminoids, encapsulated or not, are higher than those of butylated hydroxyanisole and butylated hydroxytoluene in trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC) and (2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazyl-hydrate) (DPPH) studies. However, curcuminoids did not have much impact towards cell migration and proliferation in comparison with the negative control in the in vitro HaCaT study. The micoencapsulation formulation was shown to significantly influence wound healing in terms of increasing the wound contraction rate, hydroxyproline synthesis, and greater epithelialisation, which in turn provides strong justification for the incorporation of the microencapsulated formulation of curcuminoids as a topical treatment for burns and wound healing management as it has the potential to act as a crucial wound healing agent in healthcare settings