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Objective Bronchial asthma is one of the most common illnesses in children. The chronicity of bronchial asthma and fear of steroid therapy cause many patients to seek alternative methods of treatment such as acupuncture.Methods Twelve acupuncture sessions were performed for 30 children with asthma during their conventional medical treatment at certain points according to traditional Chinese medicine for 1 month. Pulmonary functions, interleukin-6, immunoglobulin E, and eosinophilic count were measured before and after the sessions. Clinical grading and medications used before and after the acupuncture sessions were also evaluated.Results There were significant improvements in pulmonary functions: vital capacity% (P < 0.001), forced vital capacity% (P < 0.001), forced expiratory volume (FEV) 1 % (P < 0.001), forced expiratory flow (FEF) 25-75% (P < 0.001), peaked expiratory flow% (P < 0.001), FEF 25% (P < 0.001), FEF 50% (P < 0.001), and FEF 75% (P < 0.001).There were significant decreases in all laboratory investigations. However, there were improvements in the clinical condition of the patients and there was also a decrease in the medications used.Conclusion Acupuncture improves pulmonary functions of children with bronchial asthma; it decreases the serum levels of eosinophilic count and cytokines.

Objective Recurrent infection in Down syndrome (DS) has been previously documented; the potential role of platelets and neutrophil-platelet interaction has not been addressed in previous studies. Patients and Methods Using flow cytometry, we evaluated CD40 and CD18 expression as activation markers for neutrophils and CD62p as an activation marker for platelets, before and after lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulation, in 34 patients with DS and 39 control patients. Results Markers were evaluated as percentage of positivity, mean fluorescent intensity (MFI), and activation index (MFI after stimulation/MFI before stimulation). Patients showed a significantly lower CD40 MFI (P = .019) after LPS stimulation, a lower CD62p percentage before and after LPS stimulation (P = .013 and P = .029), and a higher CD62p MFI (P = .011) after LPS stimulation. Patients showed a lower activation index for CD40 and CD18 (P ≤ .001) but not for CD62p (P = .338). Dysfunctional efficiency in neutrophils and in the neutrophil-platelet interaction could not be correlated to infection. Conclusion A consensus on a scoring system for infection is needed for an objective evaluation of correlation to infection.

BACKGROUND: Cytokines including Interleukin-5 play a key role in orchestrating the chronic inflammation of asthma. We aimed to determine the level of serum IL-5 in partly controlled atopic asthma in children and to assess the effect of different therapies on their levels.METHODS: The study included 40 children aged 6-12 years with partly controlled asthma. Cases were randomly divided into two groups; group ‘A’ receiving Leukotriene modifiers and group ‘B’ receiving inhaled corticosteroids; each for two months. They were compared to 20 healthy non-asthmatic, matched controls. Serum IL-5 was measured for cases on the first visit and two months after therapy. Absolute eosinophilic count and serum Ig-E were determined. Pulmonary function testing was performed using spirometer at the beginning and two months after regular therapy.RESULTS: Serum Interleukin-5 was significantly increased in asthmatic children during exacerbation and was significantly decreased after treatment. ROC curve analysis showed significant difference of IgE and PEFR after treatment with leukotriene modifier only.CONCLUSION: Serum IL-5 seems to have a role in asthma pathogenesis. Efficiency of the two therapies (ICs & LTA) was similar in this group of patients. Both treatments led to significant decline in serum IL-5, IgE levels and eosinophilic count

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