Teruaki Takishita

Better speech performance in cochlear implant patients with GJB2-related deafness

OBJECTIVE We applied mutation screening in seven cochlear implant users to identify those persons with GJB2-related deafness to determine whether etiology of deafness was predictive of speech performance after implantation. METHODS Direct sequence of GJB2 was conducted over seven cochlear implant users with prelingual hearing impairment and their speech, language and cognitive performance was examined. RESULTS The three persons with GJB2-related deafness had a mean vocabulary of 1243 words compared to a mean vocabulary of 195 words in the four children with GJB2-unrelated deafness, although the number of patients examined here was limited. The developmental quotient (DQ) of cognitive ability also was higher in those children with GJB2-related deafness. CONCLUSIONS These preliminary results suggest that better speech performance after cochlear implantation may be observed in persons with GJB2-related deafness. In the future, detailed phenotypic studies and mutation screening for non-syndromic hearing loss may play an important role in the preoperative assessment of prelingually-deafened children.

Carbohydrates expressed on Aspergillus fumigatus induce in vivo allergic Th2‐type response

Background  The mould Aspergillus fumigatus (Af) causes several forms of Th2‐biased diseases such as Type I respiratory allergies. This mould contains abundant carbohydrates including glucan, chitin and galactomannan. However, little is known on whether these carbohydrates directly drive Th2 responses in vivo.

Presence and characterization of sensitization to staphylococcal enterotoxins in patients with allergic rhinitis.

Exotoxins derived from Staphylococcus aureus appear to be involved in the pathogenesis of allergic diseases, especially atopic dermatitis (AD). However, little is known about sensitization to enterotoxins in cases of respiratory allergies. Because the nasal cavity is a primary site of colonization by S. aureus, we sought to determine the prevalence and role of serum immunoglobulin E (IgE) antibodies against staphylococcal enterotoxin A (SEA) and SEB in patients with allergic rhinitis (AR). The presence of SEA- and SEB-specific IgE was determined in 40 patients with AR and 16 healthy control subjects. In the rhinitis group, nasal symptom score, total serum IgE, sensitization to other inhaled allergens and the presence of sinusitis were determined. Twenty-five percent of patients with AR were sensitized to SEA/SEB whereas 6.3% of controls were sensitized to the toxins. Sensitization to SEB was predominant relative to SEA. There were no significant differences in the severity of nasal symptoms and complications of other allergic diseases including AD and bronchial asthma, between patients with or without sensitization to SEA/SEB. However, patients sensitized to these toxins were likely to show increased total serum IgE and polyvalent sensitization, suggesting that exposure and subsequent sensitization to SEA/SEB may be involved in polyvalent sensitization.

Characterization of allergen-specific monocyte-derived dendritic cells generated from monocytes by a single-step procedure: effect on naïve and memory T cells

Background:  Dendritic cells are one of the most potent antigen‐presenting cells and when pulsed with allergen can modulate allergen‐specific T‐cell responses. We sought to establish a single‐step method by which to generate allergen‐specific monocyte‐derived dendritic cells (MoDCs).