Food allergy is the major reason for severe anaphylaxis in childhood and adolescence. Currently, effective and safe treatments for food allergy are unavailable. Allergen-specific CD4 T cells have a pivotal role in causing and maintaining the allergic response to food allergens. The purpose of this review is to provide an overview on the role of allergen-specific T cells in food allergy during allergic sensitization, natural tolerance development and allergen immunotherapy. Allergen-specific T cells in the context of food allergy are predominantly of a Th2 type with slightly different surface marker expression patterns in different food allergies. During the process of reverting food allergy to a status of tolerance or sustained unresponsiveness there is a loss of this Th2 committed compartment with an asymptotic approximation to a regulatory and Th0/Th1 dominated compartment seen in non-allergic individuals. This process is accompanied by a significant reduction of absolute frequencies of allergen-specific T cells. Particularly, regulatory T cells may provide significant help to achieve sustained control of the effector cell populations via suppression of effector cell function and possibly induction of blocking antibodies.

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Peanut allergy is considered to be the most common cause for food-induced anaphylaxis. Currently, no approved treatment is available. Avoidance is the only measure to prevent anaphylactic reactions to peanuts. T-helper cells are of special importance for the sensitization process and the maintenance of allergic inflammation. Identifying markers of allergen-specific T-cell responses may help to develop novel treatment approaches. Therefore, we aimed to define new T-cell target genes in Ara h 2-specific T cells and to investigate the possibility of using them as biomarkers of peanut allergy in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). We performed whole mRNA array analysis (whole human genome oligo microarray) of in vitro expanded Ara h 2-specific T cells (CFSE^lowCD3⁺CD4⁺) from 5 peanut-allergic (PA) and 5 non-peanut-sensitized individuals. Expression of selected genes as a result of a two-step bioinformatic approach was confirmed in a second cohort by quantitative PCR. TGF-β- activated kinase 1 and MAP3K7 binding protein 3 (TAB3), calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase type IV (CAMK4) and HemK methyltransferase family member 1 (HEMK1) were significantly upregulated in Ara h 2-specific T cells of PA patients. In addition, the expression of these genes was also assessed in unstimulated PBMCs from a cohort (n = 43) of PA, atopic non-PA, and nonatopic controls. Interestingly, in unstimulated PBMCs, TAB3 expression was significantly downregulated in PA patients compared to atopic non-PA individuals. Thus, TAB3 may play a significant role at the level of T-cell activation and may also be a candidate biomarker for PA.

In the article, acclimatization of South Korean varieties of soybeans to the soil-climate conditions of the Republic of Uzbekistan and cross-breeding between them has a positive effect. According to our experiments, the combinations F1CH11(-018) x CH30(-969) and F1CH27(-266) x CH30(-969) were observed in F1 hybrids from the main elements of productivity in terms of inheritance of the number of pods per plant. In addition, F1CH11(-018) x CH30(-969) and F1CH27(-266) x CH30(-969) combinations for seed weight per plant showed positive heterosis in all but 3 combinations for lower pod location characters, positive complete and incomplete dominance was observed. Character superiority in the number of seeds per plant in CH30(-969), CH7(-014), CH28(-268) and CH28(-268), F1CH11(-018) x CH30(-969), F1KO20 x CH30 In (-969) combinations, a high index of 1000 seed weight was found in CH7(-014) and K09(339) variety samples. In combinations F1K09(339) x CH30(-969), F1US-25(-622) x CH30(-969), F1CH11(-018) x CH30(-969), F1US-25(-622) x CH30(-969 ), the phenomenon of heterosis was observed in F1CH11(-018) x CH30(-969), F1US-44 (-641) x CH30(-969) and F1KO20 x CH30(-969) combinations. It has been highlighted that the continuation of research on the above-studied variety samples and hybrid combinations will be highly effective in increasing productivity.

At the end of 2019, an outbreak of a new coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, occurred in China. This virus is highly contagious, transmitted by different routes, such as airborne and contact, but most likely among children it is also transmitted by the fecal-oral route. The disease caused by a new strain of coronavirus is COVID-19. An acute infectious disease has become a pandemic and persists to this day. Currently available data suggests that symptoms of COVID-19 in the adult population may be mild, moderate, or severe. But among children, the course of the disease is very different from that in adults with a milder course. The severe course of COVID-19 among children has been associated with the development of multisystem inflammatory syndrome or Kawasaki disease. In addition to the epidemiological history, laboratory and instrumental analysis, the gold standard for the etiological diagnosis of COVID-19 is the identification of the genetic material — the ribonucleic acid of the virus using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. Due to the risk of radiation, a chest CT scan in the pediatric population is only recommended when there is a suspicion of COVID-19. For the prophylaxis and prevention of future epidemics, studying the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 among children is especially important, since the majority of asymptomatic cases of the disease occur in this population. So, the purpose of our study is to review the main clinical manifestations and diagnostic methods of COVID-19 in children.