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Clinical course of rhinitis and changes in vivo and in vitro of allergic parameters in elderly patients: a long-term follow-up study

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Abstract

Changes in rhinitis symptom severity tend to decrease with aging, but whether the decrease is associated with allergic skin test reactivity, serum total and specific IgE, and nasal eosinophils or determined only by aging is poorly understood. The aim of the study was to analyze sensitivity in vivo and in vitro some 15 years after primary testing, skin prick test (SPT), serum total and specific IgE, ratio sIgE/tIgE, and nasal eosinophils in order to evaluate changes due to age and changes due to the severity of rhinitis symptoms. One hundred and eight rhinitis patients who had been investigated in 1995 were re-interviewed and their current allergy re-assessed after a follow-up of 15 years. All patients were SPT with eight common allergens in the area of Palermo (Italy). Rhinitis symptoms tended, on average, to have become milder at the follow-up. All parameters examined showed a decreasing trend in older age groups over the period between the two investigations. Rhinitis symptoms tend to become milder and the allergic parameters both in vivo and in vitro usually decrease in the long run; however, the changes in rhinitis symptoms appear to be related to changes in the nasal eosinophils, independently of SPT and serum-specific IgE.

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Abbreviations

AR:

Allergic rhinitis

SPT:

Skin prick test

tIgE:

Total IgE

sIgE:

Specific IgE

VAS:

Visual analog scale

nEOS:

Nasal eosinophil

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by grants from MIUR (Italian University and Research Ministry) (former 60% funds) to Gabriele Di Lorenzo.

Conflict of interest

No support was received from the pharmaceutical and diagnostic industry. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject or material discussed in the manuscript a part those disclosed. No writing was utilized in the production of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Medicina Interna e Specialistica (DIMIS), Università degli Studi di Palermo, Via del Vespro, 141, 90127, Palermo, Italy

    Gabriele Di Lorenzo, Maria Stefania Leto-Barone & Giovam Battista Rini

  2. Dipartimento di Dipartimento di Biopatologia e Biotecnologie Mediche e Forensi, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Corso Tukory, 211, 90138, Palermo, Italy

    Simona La Piana

  3. Centro Trasfusionale ASP-Palermo, San Raffaele, P.O. San Raffaele G. Giglio Cefalù, Palermo, Italy

    Vito Ditta

  4. Dipartimento di Discipline Chirurgiche ed Oncologiche, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Via del Vespro, 129, 90127, Palermo, Italy

    Gaetana Di Fede

Authors
  1. Gabriele Di Lorenzo
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  2. Maria Stefania Leto-Barone
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  3. Simona La Piana
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  4. Vito Ditta
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  5. Gaetana Di Fede
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  6. Giovam Battista Rini
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gabriele Di Lorenzo.

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Di Lorenzo, G., Leto-Barone, M.S., La Piana, S. et al. Clinical course of rhinitis and changes in vivo and in vitro of allergic parameters in elderly patients: a long-term follow-up study. Clin Exp Med 13, 67–73 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10238-012-0175-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10238-012-0175-8

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