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Urticaria and angioedema occur in up to 20 % of the population during their lifetime. Chronic urticaria and some hereditary angioedema states are more frequent in women and fluctuate during the hormonal cycle. This review describes the course of urticarial and angioedema states during pregnancy, as well as a possible role for sex hormones in the pathogenesis of different diseases, both chronic and cyclic urticarial diseases and diseases that occur only in pregnancy.

SummaryAging is associated with altered decreased barrier function in the skin, which can lead to different types of immunoglobulin E (IgE)-mediated sensitization to environmentalallergens. Yet, allergen-specific respiratory sensitization among the elderly is not well described. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of aging on allergic pulmonary inflammation induced by epicutaneous sensitization of mechanically irritated skin in mice. For this purpose, 6-week-, 6-month-, and 18-month-old female BALB/c mice, underwent epicutaneous sensitization with ovalbumin (OVA) or phosphate buffered saline (PBS), followed by an inhaled OVA challenge. Blood OVA-specific IgE levels measured after epicutaneous sensitization, as well as, bronchial alveolar lavage fluids (BALF) leucocyte, eosinophil, and cytokine levels measured after OVA inhalation challenge were similar among the 6-week-old (young) and 6-month-old (adult) groups.However, significantly decreased levels of systemic OVA IgE, and BALF leukocyte, eosinophil and T helper cell type 2 cytokine levels, were measured after OVA inhalation challenge in elderly (18-month-old) mice compared to the other groups of mice. In addition, interleukin-10 (IL-10), a regulatory suppressor cytokine, was more abundant in the BALF of the elderly group after epicutaneous sensitization and inhalation challenge. Our results suggest that elderly mice have a reduced allergic response to induced sensitization with OVA, possibly regulated by increased IL-10 levels. K E Y W O R D Saging, allergy, epicutaneous sensitization, pulmonary inflammation | INTRODUCTIONA strong association between allergic sensitization and respiratory allergy has been described in children, adolescents and young adults. 1,2The role of allergen-specific sensitization in the pathophysiology and severity of allergy in older patients is not well understood. It is generally accepted that total immunoglobulin E (IgE) levels decline with increasing age.3 Several cross-sectional studies of randomly selected individuals from the Tucson Epidemiological Study and the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, have demonstrated that total serum IgE titres peaks at 20 years of age and is lowest at 70 years of age. 3 Similarly, the prevalence of allergen-specific IgE sensitization was found to be higher in younger populations than in older ones.Another study looked at adult inner-city patients with moderate to severe persistent asthma and found that 41% of those older than 60 years were sensitized to at least one antigen, compared to 73% sensitized individuals among patients between 18 and 35 years of age. In contrast, other studies have suggested an association between

The prevalence of peanut allergy is constantly increasing in children. Atopic dermatitis is a major risk factor for developing food allergy, and it has been suggested that exposure to peanut allergens through a disrupted skin barrier is a potential cause of peanut allergy. Some bath oils and skin creams used for treating atopic dermatitis contain peanut oil. Our aim was to investigate if cutaneous application of peanut oil caused a systemic or respiratory allergic response to peanut in this animal model. METHODS: Nine BALB/c mice underwent cutaneous sensitization with 50mL of peanut oil, or PBS control. Ten days after the last exposure mice were challenged with 5mg intranasal peanut protein. Bronchial alveolar fluid (BALF) was collected for cytologic studies and measurement of cytokine levels. Sera was collected for IgE measurement. RESULTS: Peanut oil sensitization increased leukocyte, eosinophil counts and IL-13 levels in (P50.003; P50.002; P5 0.03 respectively), in addition to increasing serum total IgE (P50.03). CONCLUSIONS: This work suggests that topical application of peanut oil may play a role in the etiology of peanut allergy.