As spring gets ready to, well, spring, the March issue of Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology has arrived (along with tree pollen)! This month is focused on predictions – predictions for urticaria treatment and lung function. The CME review is an exciting exploration of the emerging new therapies for chronic urticaria. This is a must read so that you will be prepared to offer these treatments to your patients with this vexing condition.
If you need a chuckle, the Marginal Zone this month highlights the mischief B cells cause in type IIb chronic spontaneous urticaria. Shifting away from urticaria, the other review this month looks at lung development throughout life, using modeling techniques to explain what is and what is not known about lung function. This review will have you wondering how lung function measurements might be used in the future.
Thanks to generous support from the College, Annals is starting a new program to provide public access for research studies funded by the National Institutes of Health. You can read more about this important endeavor in an editorial in this issue.
Full-length original research articles this month cover the breadth of our specialty. Asthma-related studies look at how nasal epithelial cells can be used as a model for asthma, as well as how gestational diabetes affects lung function. Another respiratory study examines factors that influence aspirin therapy in aspirin-exacerbated respiratory disease patients. Other studies look at the burden of NSAID-exacerbated cutaneous disease, the racial differences in penicillin delabeling, reactions to iodinated contrast media, preferences and willingness to switch hereditary angioedema treatments, eczema triggers and seasonal attack patterns, and the role of family anxiety in treatment options in food allergy.
Our Letters section explores the reduction in asthma exacerbation risk with statins in specific populations, risk of cardiovascular disease in urticaria and how omalizumab may be protective, the expression of type 2 genes in epithelial cells of adults with modulator-refractory cystic fibrosis, and more.
As always, we encourage our readers to send us emails on the articles we publish, and this month we have numerous comments from readers. These correspondences add additional context and depth to the published work in Annals. So, if you have any comments, please email us (annals@ACAAI.org) with your thoughts (good or bad) about articles and the utility of the journal. And as tree pollen begins to flow, Annals will continue to strive to bring you the most up-to-date information so that you can provide the best possible care to your patients.
Mitchell H. Grayson, MD, FACAAI
Editor-in-Chief
