No abstract

BackgroundPrevalence of allergic diseases in infants, whose parents and siblings do not have allergy, is approximately 10% and reaches 20–30% in those with an allergic first-degree relative. Intestinal microbiota may modulate immunologic and inflammatory systemic responses and, thus, influence development of sensitization and allergy. Probiotics have been reported to modulate immune responses and their supplementation has been proposed as a preventive intervention.ObjectiveThe World Allergy Organization (WAO) convened a guideline panel to develop evidence-based recommendations about the use of probiotics in the prevention of allergy.MethodsWe identified the most relevant clinical questions and performed a systematic review of randomized controlled trials of probiotics for the prevention of allergy. We followed the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach to develop recommendations. We searched for and reviewed the evidence about health effects, patient values and preferences, and resource use (up to November 2014). We followed the GRADE evidence-to-decision framework to develop recommendations.ResultsCurrently available evidence does not indicate that probiotic supplementation reduces the risk of developing allergy in children. However, considering all critical outcomes in this context, the WAO guideline panel determined that there is a likely net benefit from using probiotics resulting primarily from prevention of eczema. The WAO guideline panel suggests: a) using probiotics in pregnant women at high risk for having an allergic child; b) using probiotics in women who breastfeed infants at high risk of developing allergy; and c) using probiotics in infants at high risk of developing allergy. All recommendations are conditional and supported by very low quality evidence.ConclusionsWAO recommendations about probiotic supplementation for prevention of allergy are intended to support parents, clinicians and other health care professionals in their decisions whether to use probiotics in pregnancy and during breastfeeding, and whether to give them to infants.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s40413-015-0055-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Data Repository of Antimicrobial Peptides (DRAMP, http://dramp.cpu-bioinfor.org/ ) is an open-access comprehensive database containing general, patent and clinical antimicrobial peptides (AMPs). Currently DRAMP has been updated to version 2.0, it contains a total of 19,899 entries (newly added 2,550 entries), including 5,084 general entries, 14,739 patent entries, and 76 clinical entries. The update covers new entries, structures, annotations, classifications and downloads. Compared with APD and CAMP, DRAMP contains 14,040 (70.56% in DRAMP) non-overlapping sequences. In order to facilitate users to trace original references, PubMed_ID of references have been contained in activity information. The data of DRAMP can be downloaded by dataset and activity, and the website source code is also available on dedicatedly designed download webpage. Although thousands of AMPs have been reported, only a few parts have entered clinical stage. In the paper, we described several AMPs in clinical trials, including their properties, indications and clinicaltrials.gov identifiers. Finally, we provide the applications of DRAMP in the development of AMPs.

Background: The prevalence of allergic diseases in infants, whose parents and siblings do not have allergy, is approximately 10 % and reaches 20-30 % in those with an allergic first-degree relative. Intestinal microbiota may modulate immunologic and inflammatory systemic responses and, thus, influence development of sensitization and allergy. Prebiotics -non-digestible oligosaccharides that stimulate growth of probiotic bacteria -have been reported to modulate immune responses and their supplementation has been proposed as a preventive intervention. Objective: The World Allergy Organization (WAO) convened a guideline panel to develop evidence-based recommendations about the use of prebiotics in the prevention of allergy. Methods: The WAO guideline panel identified the most relevant clinical questions about the use of prebiotics for the prevention of allergy. We performed a systematic review of randomized controlled trials of prebiotics, and reviewed the evidence about patient values and preferences, and resource requirements (up to January 2015, with an update on July 29, 2015). We followed the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach to develop recommendations. Results: Based on GRADE evidence to decision frameworks, the WAO guideline panel suggests using prebiotic supplementation in not-exclusively breastfed infants and not using prebiotic supplementation in exclusively breastfed infants. Both recommendations are conditional and based on very low certainty of the evidence. We found no experimental or observational study of prebiotic supplementation in pregnant women or in breastfeeding mothers. Thus, the WAO guideline panel chose not to provide a recommendation about prebiotic supplementation in pregnancy or during breastfeeding, at this time. Conclusions: WAO recommendations about prebiotic supplementation for the prevention of allergy are intended to support parents, clinicians and other health care professionals in their decisions whether or not to use prebiotics for the purpose of preventing allergies in healthy, term infants.

This is the first study in China to indicate time trends in food allergy prevalence and characteristics. Our data show that in the 10-year period from 1999 to 2009, the prevalence of food allergy seems to have increased in China.