Omalizumab, a humanized monoclonal anti-IgE antibody has the potential to alter allergen processing. Recently, it has been postulated the assessment of PHA-stimulated adenosine triphosphate (ATP) activity as maker of CD4+ T cells activity in peripheral blood cells. We present the case report of a 35-year-old woman with a history of chronic idiopathic urticaria and angioedema of 8 years of development with poor response to treatment. The patient was partially controlled with cyclosporine at doses of 100 mg/12 h. However, she was still developing hives daily. Finally treatment with omalizumab was started at dose of 300 mg every 2 weeks. The patient experienced a decrease in urticarial lesions 2 days after starting therapy. We also evaluated the effects of omalizumab therapy on the activity of peripheral blood CD4+ T cells from the patient, in order to determine the potential modification of anti-IgE therapy on the process of antigen presentation-recognition. Activity of CD4+ cells by ATP release was clearly increased demonstrating an enlarged CD4 activity. Omalizumab may be useful in the treatment of severe chronic urticaria. ATP activity of peripheral blood CD4+ T cells might be a non-subjective method to assess Omalizumab activity.

Vitamin A may have some influence on the immune system, but the role in allergy modulation is still unclear.

Skin prick testing is the first-line interventional method to diagnose IgE mediated allergic diseases. Methodological differences in manufacturing processes and extract standardization may lead to variations in the reagent quality and potency. The current study evaluates sixteen commercially available Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus and Blomia tropicalis extracts for allergy diagnosis from different European manufacturers regarding allergen composition and content and whether these differences could influence their biological activity. Mite-allergic subjects (n = 21) were skin-tested with the extracts and studied for immunoglobulin E reactivity. Nine extracts from D. pteronyssinus and seven from B. tropicalis were analysed for total protein content by Bradford and ELISA double sandwich was used to quantify specific antibodies for D. pteronyssinus and B. tropicalis major allergens from nine different manufacturers. Mite extracts showed a 10–60 fold variation regarding the total protein content. The contents of the major allergens of D. pteronyssinus and B. tropicalis differed considerably (30–53 fold change) among the extracts. Blo t 5 was quantitatively present in < 50% of the of the B. tropicalis reagents and could not be clearly detected by immunoblotting in the majority of the B. tropicalis commercial extracts. Certain natural D. pteronyssinus and B. tropicalis extracts lack important allergens showing a considerable variability in composition and content. A closer collaboration among clinicians, allergen manufacturing companies and regulatory agencies to improve the quality and consistency of D. pteronyssinus and B. tropicalis extracts is warranted to achieve a more precise diagnosis and treatment of house dust mite allergy.

Background: Monitoring cellular immune responses elicited in vaccinated individuals is highly complicated. Methods: 28 individuals participated during the vaccination process with 12 BNT162b2 mRNA (Pfizer) vaccine. Specific anti-RBD IgG using a classic ELISA was performed in days 10 and 20 (after one dose of the vaccine) and on day 35 (after two vaccine doses) in serum samples of all participants. In parallel, DTH (delayed-type hypersensitivity) Skin Test using S protein was performed before (11/28) and after two doses (28/28) of the vaccine. Results: 6/28 individuals were considered positive for the specific anti-RBD IgG positive at day 10, whereas all 28 individuals were positive at day 20. Moreover, 28/28 individuals increased the OD ratios at day 36 (2 doses). DTH cutaneous test was performed on 11/28 participants at day 20 (1 dose) showing 8/11 a positive reaction at 12 h. DTH of all participants was performed on day 36 (2 doses), showing 28/28 positive reactions at 12 h. Conclusion: This report describes the first publication of the results obtained using an in vivo method, the classical DTH response to the Spike protein to assess T-cell immune responses in vaccinated individuals. This affordable and simple test would help to answer basic immunogenicity questions on large-scale population vaccine studies.

The term undifferentiated connective tissue disease (UCTD) is used to describe undiagnosed patients that do not fulfill classification criteria for definite connective tissue disease (Systemic Lupus, Systemic Sclerosis, Sjögren Syndrome, and Dermatomyositis/Polymyositis). It is important to find serological markers as predictors of the evolution or severity of these diseases. The objective of this retrospective study was to investigate if there was a milder subgroup of UCTD with a special clinical profile consisting only in the presence of anti-Ro52 autoantibodies. Immunological and clinical records of 62 patients attending the hospital during 30 months were studied. Results showed a target population formed by mostly women, aged between 40 and 80 years at the moment of the study, with a registered age of onset between 40 and 60 years. Speckled pattern was the most frequent pattern found by indirect immunofluorescence. Given the obtained results and keeping in mind possible limitations because of sample size, isolated positive anti-Ro52 autoantibodies seem to lead to a benign effect in terms of evolution of the disease. As a future objective, the follow-up of these patients should be necessary to investigate new clinical symptoms, serological markers, or development of a definite connective tissue disease over time.