Data are presented as the mean of the values for the right and the left side of the nose. Nasal reactivity was defined as a significant increase in nasal symptoms of ≥3 points in total symptom score (Kronholm Diab et al. 2009) and/or a significant decrease in AR measures of the anterior part of the nasal cavity (Hilberg and Pedersen 2000). A this website nasal lavage was performed twice before the first challenge and 20 min after

the second one directly after the rhinometric measurement. The first lavage (Time 0) was performed to wash out mediators due to the general environmental exposure before the challenge. The second lavage (Baseline) before the challenge was used as the baseline for the post-challenge samples. The lavage procedure was made as earlier described in Kronholm Diab et al. (2009). Quality of life questionnaires The study participants filled in the Short Form 36 Health Selleck PCI 32765 Survey (SF-36) (Ware and Sherbourne 1992; Ware et al. 1993) and the Rhinoconjunctivitis Quality of Life Questionnaire (RQLQ) (Juniper and Guyatt 1991; Juniper et al. 1996) before the medical examination to avoid influence from the questions posed by the physician.

The participants were instructed according to the guidelines defined by the designers of the questionnaires. As proposed by several authors, we used a combination of generic and disease specific quality of life scales (Leong et al. 2005; Terreehorst et al. 2004). The study participants were asked if any serious or dramatic event had happened during the observation period to exclude response shift (van Gerth Wijk 2002). In the comparison analyses for quality of life, the number of participants in the S− group is 18, due to missing questionnaires from one hairdresser at the study Erlotinib end. SF-36 The SF-36 was given to analyze the hairdressers last 4 weeks. We used the Swedish self-administered

version (Sullivan et al. 2002). SF-36 comprises 36 items within eight health domains related to physical and mental health dimensions: PF (Physical Functioning, 10 questions), RP (Role Physical Functioning, 4 questions), BP (Bodily Pain, 2 questions), GH (General Health, 5 questions), VT (Vitality, 4 questions), SF (Social Functioning, 2 questions), RE (Role Emotional, 3 questions) and MH (Mental Health, 5 questions). The domains are scored on a scale of 0 (worst) to 100 (best) points and calculated for each domain using a standardized scoring system (Sullivan et al. 2002; Ware et al. 1993). On the basis of the eight scales, it is also possible to estimate a physical (PCS) and a mental component Selleck VX-680 summary (MCS) score (Ware et al. 1995). The Swedish version of the SF-36 has shown good psychometric values in different studies (Taft et al. 2004), and there are norms for the Swedish population available (Sullivan and Karlsson 1998). RQLQ Rhinoconjunctivitis quality of life questionnaire (RQLQ) evaluates QoL in a particular disease state (Juniper and Guyatt 1991).