Innovation in Asia Pacific Allergy.

Happy New Year!

Greetings from Asia Pacific Allergy, the official journal of Asia Pacific Association of Allergy, Asthma, and Clinical Immunology (APAAACI). It was really an adventure for Asia Pacific Allergy being an online-only journal last year (from volume 8), which found to be very successful. The website of the journal has also been improved with new design, enhanced searching functions, ORCID (Open Researcher and Contributor ID), metrics citation, social network service, and forthcoming articles. This year Asia Pacific Allergy will adopt a global e-submission system (Editorial Manager, Aries Systems Corp., North Andover, MA, USA) that will provide more convenient environment for the authors and reviewers. Our mission is to publish your work, and to introduce you and your work to the world. As the Editor-in-Chief, I always appreciate great support and contribution from the authors, the reviewers, readers, the APAAACI member societies, the executive board members, the editorial board members, the sponsors, and the staffs. I also appreciate the Korean Association of Medical Journal Editors that is helping Asia Pacific Allergy since the launch.

Food allergy is increasing globally and has some unique features in Asia [1]. To understand the pathophysiologic mechanism, we need experimental models. Animal models could be useful but may have limitations. In this issue, Hung et al. [2] described ‘human ex vivo and in vitro disease models’ to study food allergy. This issue also contains a pilot study on oral immunotherapy for peanut allergy from Singapore [3]. Readers will find an interesting study on carminic acid in cochineal dye (used as a food additive) induced anaphylaxis [4], and a rare case of anhidrotic ectodermal dysplasia presenting with pyrexia, atopic eczema, and food allergy [5].

Now is an era of biological therapy as ‘precision medicine.’ In the field of allergy, anti-IgE (omalizumab), anti-interleukin (IL)-5 (mepolizumab, reslizumab, and benralizumab) and anti-IL4Rα(dupilumab) monoclonal antibodies are used in current practice, and others are under clinical trials [6]. Omalizumab is the first biological agent for allergic diseases (asthma, and chronic urticaria). Readers will find a very nice review article of ‘omalizumab and unmet needs in severe asthma and allergic comorbidities in Japanese children’ in this issue [7].

Exposure to daily chemicals may be associated with allergen sensitization and allergic diseases [89]. Triclosan and paraben are chemicals used in personal care and medical products as microbicides and preservatives [10]. Mitsui-Iwama et al. [11] present the first study of actual paraben and triclosan exposure in the Japanese population, and suggest that paraben exposure was associated with current atopic dermatitis.

Allergic rhinitis is the most common allergic disease [12]. Allergic rhinitis patients suffer from the symptoms such as rhinorrhea, sneezing, itching, and nasal obstruction and the quality of life could be impaired in most patients. In this issue, Tantilipikorn et al. [13] report an interesting study on the minimal clinically important difference for the rhinoconjunctivitis quality of life questionnaire in allergic rhinitis from Thai population.

Fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) measurement can reflect eosinophil-rich Th2 inflammation, and could be useful in the diagnosis and monitoring of asthma and chronic cough [14]. Severe eosinophilic asthma is a distinct but still imprecisely characterized subclassification of severe asthma involving the abnormal production of type 2 cytokines from Th2 and innate lymphoid cells [15]. In this issue, Saito et al. [16] described that school-aged asthma children with high FeNO levels and lung dysfunction were at high risk of prolonged lung dysfunction.

Please note that 2019 APAAACI International Conference will be held jointly with the Chinese Society of Allergy Meeting in Beijing, China on September 5–7, 2019. It is to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of APAAACI. In 2020, Japanese Society of Allergology/World Allergy Organization Joint Congress (WAC 2020) conjoint with the APAAACI/APAPARI 2020 Congress will be held in Kyoto on September 17–20. Please save the dates!