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Journal Article 2016; 37(3): 226-232 PubMed PMID: 27618598 Citation  Keywords:  Adult, Aging:psychology, Certification, Cognition, Female, Flavoring Agents:pharmacology, Food Industry, Humans, Hypersensitivity:psychology, Life Style, Male, Middle Aged, Psychomotor Performance, Reference Standards, Sex Characteristics, Slovakia, Smoki.   

OBJECTIVES: During certification process of sensory assessors of Slovak certification body we obtained results for basic taste thresholds and lifestyle habits.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: 500 adult people were screened during experiment with food industry background. For analysis of basic and non basic tastes, we used standardized procedure of ISO 8586-1:1993.

RESULTS: In flavour test experiment, group of (26-35 y.o) produced the lowest error ratio (1.438), highest is (56+ y.o.) group with result (2.0). Average error value based on gender for women was (1.510) in comparison to men (1.477). People with allergies have the average error ratio (1.437) in comparison to people without allergies (1.511). Non-smokers produced less errors (1.484) against the smokers (1.576). Another flavour threshold identification test detected differences among age groups (by age are values increased). The highest number of errors made by men in metallic taste was (24%) the same as made by women (22%). Higher error ratio made by men occurred in salty taste (19%) against women (10%). Analysis detected some differences between allergic/non-allergic, smokers/non-smokers groups....

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Controlled Clinical Trial 2013; 34(6): 559-565 PubMed PMID: 24378456 Citation  Keywords:  Adult, Aged, Cadmium:adverse effects, Chronic Disease, Dental Amalgam:adverse effects, Female, Fibromyalgia:etiology, Humans, Hypersensitivity:complications, Lead:adverse effects, Lymphocyte Activation:immunology, Mercury:adverse effects, Metals:adverse e.   

BACKGROUND: Fibromyalgia (FM) is a disease of unknown etiology. Inflammation could be one of the mechanisms behind this disease.

OBJECTIVES: We studied the frequency and clinical relevance of metal allergy in FM patients.

METHODS: Fifteen female FM patients were included in the study. Metal allergy was measured by a lymphocyte transformation test, MELISA®. Ten healthy age-matched women were used as controls for in vitro studies. Reduction of metal exposure in the FM patients was achieved by replacement of dental metal restorations and by the avoidance of known sources of metal exposure. Objective health assessment was performed 5 years after treatment. Subjective health assessment was established by a questionnaire, completed 2, 5 and in some cases 10 years after the start of the study. Follow-up MELISA was also performed.

RESULTS: All FM patients tested positive to at least one of the metals tested. The most frequent reactions were to nickel, followed by inorganic mercury, cadmium and lead. Some healthy controls responded to inorganic mercury in vitro but most of the tests were negative. Objective examination 5 years later showed that half of the patients no longer fulfilled the FM diagnosis, 20% had improved and the remaining 30% still had FM. All patients reported subjective health improvement. This correlated with the normalisation of metal-specific responses in vitro.

CONCLUSION: Metal allergy is frequent in FM patients. The reduction of metal exposure resulted in improved health in the majority of metal-sensitized patients. This suggests that metal-induced inflammation might be an important risk factor in a subset of patients with FM....

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Journal Article 2013; 34(3): 212-216 PubMed PMID: 23685419 Citation  Keywords:  Adolescent, Asthma:blood, Body Mass Index, Child, Cross-Sectional Studies, Disease Progression, Female, Humans, Hypersensitivity:epidemiology, Male, Resistin:blood, Risk Factors, Severity of Illness Index, Sex Distribution,.   

OBJECTIVES: There are limited data on the role of adipokines in atopic asthma.

DESIGN AND SETTING: To determine serum levels of resistin in asthmatic children in relation to body weight, asthma severity and gender, serum resistin (RES) levels were measured using ELISA in 89 asthmatic children (61 boys and 28 girls, aged 7.0-17.0 years) and in 33 healthy children. Among examined asthmatics 59 (19 girls and 40 boys) had normal weight (ANW) and 30 (9 girls and 21 boys) were obese (AO).

RESULTS: The mean serum levels of resistin were significantly (p<0.01) higher in all non-obese asthmatic children (4.11±0.1 ng/mL) than in healthy children (3.83±0.1 ng/mL). After stratifying by gender only ANW boys and AO boys had significantly higher RES levels than boys from control group. Both AO (4.4±0.2 ng/mL) and ANW girls (4.38±0.2 ng/mL) as well as girls from control (4.09±0.1) group showed significantly higher mean RES serum concentrations than boys from corresponding groups (3.99±0.1 ng/ml, 3.83±0.17 ng/ml and 3.44±0.06 ng/ml, respectively). No relationship between examined adipokine levels and asthma severity, spirometric parameters, degree of allergic sensitization, BMI, BMI-SDS was stated.

CONCLUSION: Increased serum RES in children with atopic asthma suggest that this adipokine may be implicated in its pathogenesis....

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Journal Article 2012; 33(5): 559-564 PubMed PMID: 23090276 Citation  Keywords:  Adolescent, Asthma:blood, Biomarkers:blood, Body Mass Index, Child, Female, Humans, Hypersensitivity:blood, Male, Nicotinamide Phosphoribosyltransferase:blood, Obesity:blood, Severity of Illness Index,.   

OBJECTIVES: Very little is known about the role of adipokines in atopic asthma in children. Studies about the potential role of novel proinflammatory adiopcytokine - visfatin are lacking.

DESIGN AND SETTING: In this cross-sectional study serum visfatin (VISF) levels were measured in 89 asthmatic out-patients (61 boys and 28 girls aged 7.0-17.0 years) and in 33 healthy children.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: Among examined asthmatics 59 (19 girls and 40 boys) had normal weight and 30 (9 girls and 21 boys) were obese. Serum VISF was evaluated using standard ELISA tests and the results were analysed in relation to body weight, asthma severity, and gender were analysed.

RESULTS: The mean serum levels of visfatin were significantly (p<0.001) lower both in obese (2.13±0.07npg/ml) and non-obese asthmatic children (2.05±0.06 npg/ml) than in healthy children (2.57±0.07 pg/ml) regardless of gender. After stratifying by gender, there was a significant decrease (p<0.001) in visfatin levels in obese asthmatic girls (2.30±0.08 ng/ml) and asthmatic girls with normal weight girls (2.21±0,09 ng/ml) compared with girls from control group (2.69 ±0.06 ng/ml). In obese asthmatic boys and non-obese asthmatic boys also significantly lower (p<0.01) mean values of visfatin (2.03±0.06 ng/ml and 1.9±0.06 pg/ml respectively) were observed than in control boys (2.391±0.09 ng/ml). No relationships between examined adipokine levels and asthma severity, spirometric parameters, degree of allergic sensitization, BMI, were observed.

CONCLUSION: Visfatin is not potential biomarker in atopic asthma in children and further studies evaluating the possible role of this proinflammatory adipokine in childhood atopic asthma pathogenesis are needed....

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Journal Article 2006; 27(Suppl 1): 7-16 PubMed PMID: 17261999 Citation  Keywords:  Biomarkers:blood, Dental Amalgam:toxicity, Environmental Pollutants:toxicity, Humans, Hypersensitivity:diagnosis, Inflammation, Lymphocyte Activation, Metals:toxicity, T-Lymphocytes:immunology, Titanium:toxicity,.   

: Environmental factors are recognized as a cause of the increasing frequency of allergic and autoimmune diseases. In addition to external pollutants, metal ions released from dental restorations or from other body implants might trigger inflammation in susceptible subjects. In humans, genes governing metal-induced inflammation and autoimmunity are not yet known. In clinical praxis, metal-sensitive patients will present various symptoms ranging from oral mucosal changes and skin disease to excessive fatigue and autoimmune diseases. Since genetic markers of genetic susceptibility in man are not known, one has to rely on the phenototypic markers. Such biomarkers might be certain detoxification enzymes but also the presence of metal-specific memory cells in the blood. With the increasing use of metal implants in medicine and dentistry, it is important to have a proper tool for the diagnosis of metal allergy in susceptible subjects. After nickel, gold is now the second most common sensitizer. In addition to patch test, an in vitro blood test, an optimized commercially available lymphocyte transformation test (MELISA) is discussed. Both tests were used for the diagnosis of metal allergy in a selected group of 15 patients who suffered from clinical metal sensitivity in addition to other health problems. The concordance of the two tests was good but MELISA detected more metal allergies than patch test. The removal of incompatible dental material (RID) resulted in long-term health improvement in the majority of patients. We postulate that in vivo, metal ions activate T-cells, initiating systemic inflammation, which, through cytokines, affects the brain and hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis. We postulate that in vivo metal ions will activate T-cells starting systemic inflammation which, through cytokines affect the brain and hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. The treatment and rehabilitation of metal sensitive patients is based on a firm understanding and recognition of individual susceptibility. RID has to be done done with extreme caution and according to standard working protocol. If performed properly, this treatment can result in decreased systemic inflammation and improved health in sensitized patients....

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Case Reports 2006; 27(Suppl 1): 17-24 PubMed PMID: 17261998 Citation  Keywords:  Adult, Aged, Dental Amalgam:toxicity, Environmental Exposure, Female, Humans, Hypersensitivity:diagnosis, Immunoassay:methods, Lymphocyte Activation, Metals:toxicity, Middle Aged, Occupational Exposure, Reproducibility of Results, Sensitivity and Specific.   

OBJECTIVES: Chronic low-level metal exposure may result in metal sensitization and undesirable side-effects. The main sources of metal exposure are from the environment or from corrosion of dental metal alloys. Affected patients are routinely diagnosed with the epicutaneous (patch) test. However, such testing may induce false-positive (irritative) reactions and may in itself sensitize or exacerbate symptoms. Alternatively, MELISA (Memory Lymphocyte ImmunoStimulation Assay), an optimized lymphocyte transformation test (LTT), can be used. In this study we analyzed the overall frequency and distribution of metal sensitization among symptomatic, metal-exposed patients. In addition, we determined the reproducibility of the assay and assessed its clinical relevance for detecting and monitoring hypersensitivity to metals.

METHODS: To analyze the frequency and distribution of metal sensitization, blood from 700 consecutive patients was tested against a total of 26 metals in the validated LTT-MELISA. For reproducibility testing, 391 single metal tests from 63 patients were performed in parallel. Finally, to assess clinical relevance, 14 patients with known metal exposure showing local (dry mouth, Oral Lichen Planus, Burning Mouth Syndrome, eczema) and/or systemic (chronic infections, fatigue, autoimmune disorders, central nervous system disturbances, depression) effects were tested in LTT-MELISA. In 7 cases testing was repeated following removal of the allergy-causing metals or, in 2 additional cases, without therapeutic intervention.

RESULTS: Of the 700 patients tested, 74.6% responded to >/= 1 metal in LTT-MELISA, with a subgroup of 17.9% responding to >/= 3 metals. Reactivity was most frequent to nickel (68.2%), followed by cadmium (23.7%), gold (17.8%), palladium (12.7%), inorganic mercury (11.4%), molybdenum (10.8%), beryllium (9.7%), titanium dioxide (4.2%), lead (3.7%), and platinum (3.4%). Reproducibility was 94.9%, with most discordant results in a low-positive range. Removal of the alloys or prostheses containing allergenic metals resulted in remarkable clinical improvement correlating with a significant reduction or complete normalization of specific lymphocyte reactivity. In contrast, both LTT-MELISA reactivity and clinical symptoms remained unchanged in follow-up samples from the 2 patients who did not remove the source of metal exposure.

CONCLUSION: The optimized LTT-MELISA test is a clinically useful and reliable tool for identifying and monitoring metal sensitization in symptomatic metal-exposed individuals....

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Journal Article 2006; 27(Suppl 1): 31-35 PubMed PMID: 17261997 Citation  Keywords:  Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Dental Implants:adverse effects, Humans, Hypersensitivity:diagnosis, Immunoassay, Lymphocyte Activation, Middle Aged, Prostheses and Implants:adverse effects, Titanium:adverse effects,.   

OBJECTIVES: This study was carried out to investigate the potential of titanium to induce hypersensitivity in patients chronically exposed to titanium-based dental or endoprosthetic implants.

METHODS: Fifty-six patients who had developed clinical symptoms after receiving titanium-based implants were tested in the optimized lymphocyte transformation test MELISA against 10 metals including titanium. Out of 56 patients, 54 were patch-tested with titanium as well as with other metals. The implants were removed in 54 patients (2 declined explantation), and 15 patients were retested in MELISA.

RESULTS: Of the 56 patients tested in MELISA, 21 (37.5%) were positive, 16 (28.6%) ambiguous, and 19 (33.9%) negative to titanium. In the latter group, 11 (57.9%) showed lymphocyte reactivity to other metals, including nickel. All 54 patch-tested patients were negative to titanium. Following removal of the implants, all 54 patients showed remarkable clinical improvement. In the 15 retested patients, this clinical improvement correlated with normalization in MELISA reactivity.

CONCLUSION: These data clearly demonstrate that titanium can induce clinically-relevant hypersensitivity in a subgroup of patients chronically exposed via dental or endoprosthetic implants....

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Introductory Journal Article 2006; 27(Suppl 1): 3-4 PubMed PMID: 17261996 Citation  Keywords:  Autoimmune Diseases:etiology, Dental Amalgam:adverse effects, Environmental Exposure, Humans, Hypersensitivity, Metals:adverse effects,.   

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