\n\nMethods\n\nTen bee venom-allergic children (mean age: 9.3 years; m/f, 7/3) with moderate to severe allergic reactions to bee stings received VIT. A separate group of seven children (mean age:

14 years; m/f, 5/2) were investigated 2 years after VIT withdrawal. Ten age- and gender-matched children served as non-allergic controls. selleck chemicals Allergen-specific serum IgG4 and IgE levels were measured by ELISA at baseline, after 2 years of VIT and 2 years after VIT withdrawal. Serum inhibitory activity was assessed using the facilitated-allergen binding (FAB) assay.\n\nResults\n\nSera obtained during VIT significantly inhibited allergen-IgE binding to B-cells (pre-treatment=104 +/- 23%; 2 years=46 +/- 15%; P < 0.001) when compared with see more sera obtained after treatment withdrawal and sera from normal controls. In parallel to FAB inhibition during VIT, significantly higher IgG4 levels were noted after immunotherapy (pre-treatment=8.6 +/- 2.3 AU; 2 years=26.7 +/- 3.5 AU; P < 0.001) compared with those observed after withdrawal and in the controls. In contrast, progressively lower IgE concentrations were observed compared with pre-treatment (44 +/- 7 AU)

in sera obtained after 2 years of VIT (25 +/- 5 AU; P < 0.01) and 2 years following the withdrawal of VIT (10 +/- 3 AU; P < 0.05).\n\nConclusions\n\nIn contrast to grass pollen immunotherapy, the persistent decline in venom-specific IgE

levels, rather than serum inhibitory activity for FAB, may be more relevant for long-term clinical efficacy of VIT.”
“Porous artificial bone substitutes, especially bone scaffolds coupled with osteobiologics, have been developed as an alternative to the traditional bone grafts. The bone scaffold should have a set of properties to provide mechanical support and simultaneously promote tissue regeneration. Among these properties, scaffold permeability is a determinant factor as it plays a major role in the ability for cells to penetrate the porous media and for nutrients to diffuse. Thus, the aim of this work is to characterize the permeability of the scaffold microstructure, using both computational and experimental methods. Computationally, permeability was estimated click here by homogenization methods applied to the problem of a fluid flow through a porous media. These homogenized permeability properties are compared with those obtained experimentally. For this purpose a simple experimental setup was used to test scaffolds built using Solid Free Form techniques. The obtained results show a linear correlation between the computational and the experimental permeability. Also, this study showed that permeability encompasses the influence of both porosity and pore size on mass transport, thus indicating its importance as a design parameter.