Journal
JOURNAL OF ALLERGY AND CLINICAL IMMUNOLOGY
Volume 136, Issue 1, Pages 87-U179Publisher
MOSBY-ELSEVIER
DOI: 10.1016/j.jaci.2015.01.049
Keywords
Allergen; grass; Phl p 5; Europe; PM10; PM2.5; exposure; allergy; basophil; modeling; SILAM; HIALINE
Categories
Funding
- European Union
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Background: Allergies to grass pollen are the number one cause of outdoor hay fever. The human immune system reacts with symptoms to allergen from pollen. Objective: We investigated the natural variability in release of the major group 5 allergen from grass pollen across Europe. Methods: Airborne pollen and allergens were simultaneously collected daily with a volumetric spore trap and a high-volume cascade impactor at 10 sites across Europe for 3 consecutive years. Group 5 allergen levels were determined with a Phl p 5-specific ELISA in 2 fractions of ambient air: particulate matter of greater than 10 mu m in diameter and particulate matter greater than 2.5 mu m and less than 10 mu m in diameter. Mediator release by ambient air was determined in Fc epsilon RI-humanized basophils. The origin of pollen was modeled and condensed to pollen potency maps. Results: On average, grass pollen released 2.3 pg of Phl p 5 per pollen. Allergen release per pollen (potency) varied substantially, ranging from less than 1 to 9 pg of Phl p 5 per pollen (5% to 95% percentile). The main variation was locally day to day. Average potency maps across Europe varied between years. Mediator release from basophilic granulocytes correlated better with allergen levels per cubic meter (r(2) = 0.80, P < .001) than with pollen grains per cubic meter (r(2) = 0.61, P < .001). In addition, pollen released different amounts of allergen in the non-pollenbearing fraction of ambient air, depending on humidity. Conclusion: Across Europe, the same amount of pollen released substantially different amounts of group 5 grass pollen allergen. This variation in allergen release is in addition to variations in pollen counts. Molecular aerobiology (ie, determining allergen in ambient air) might be a valuable addition to pollen counting.
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