Rhinitis, sinusitis, and upper airway diseaseVariation of the group 5 grass pollen allergen content of airborne pollen in relation to geographic location and time in season
Section snippets
Pollen in ambient air
Airborne pollen concentrations were collected at 10 sites in Europe (Table I and see Table E1 and Fig E1 in this article's Online Repository at www.jacionline.org) by using Hirst-type volumetric spore traps, according to the requirements of the European Aeroallergen Network.28 Quality of counts was controlled, as described previously.19
Allergen in ambient air
Air was simultaneously sampled at each site with ChemVol (Butraco, Son, The Netherlands) high-volume (800 L/min) cascade impactors equipped with dry polyurethane
Pollen in ambient air
Airborne grass pollen is ubiquitous in Europe, but large variations in pollen counts exist between countries. A map of the stations is presented in Fig E1. The Finnish station in Turku (seaside) showed the lowest pollen counts, whereas the Portuguese station in Evora (rural site) recorded the highest counts (Table I). It should be noted that the years studied for each station were within the normal range of the preceding years for all stations (season timing and total pollen counts were within
Discussion
Pollen is the major outdoor cause for allergic rhinitis, and more than 350 pollen traps over Europe monitor pollen flight daily.39 The immune system reacts with symptoms to allergens,40 which are carried and released by pollen. The natural variability across Europe of how much allergen is carried by grass pollen was unknown.
This study shows that, on average, grass pollen in Europe released about 2.0 to 2.5 pg of group 5 allergens, the major grass pollen allergen, per pollen grain. This average
References (55)
- et al.
Geographic variations in the effect of atopy on asthma in the European Community Respiratory Health Study
J Allergy Clin Immunol
(2004) - et al.
Change in prevalence of IgE sensitization and mean total IgE with age and cohort
J Allergy Clin Immunol
(2005) - et al.
A proteomic style approach to characterize a grass mix product reveals potential immunotherapeutic benefit
World Allergy Organ J
(2011) - et al.
Release of Bet v 1 from birch pollen from 5 European countries. Results from the HIALINE study
Atmos Environ
(2012) - et al.
Immunological differences in the global release of the major cat allergen Fel d 1 are influenced by sex and behaviour
Vet J
(2012) - et al.
Thunderstorm-related asthma: not only grass pollen and spores
J Allergy Clin Immunol
(2008) - et al.
Development and laboratory characterization of a prototype coarse particle concentrator for inhalation toxicological studies
J Aerosol Sci
(2002) Who was Student and why do we care so much about his t-test?
J Surg Res
(2004)- et al.
An operational model for forecasting ragweed pollen release and dispersion in Europe
Agric For Meteorol
(2013) - et al.
Bridging allergologic and botanical knowledge in seasonal allergy: a role for phenology
Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol
(2010)
A simplification of the protein assay method of Lowry et al. which is more generally applicable
Anal Biochem
Release of allergens as respirable aerosols: a link between grass pollen and asthma
J Allergy Clin Immunol
A multi-center ring trial of allergen analysis using fluorescent multiplex array technology
J Immunol Methods
GA(2)LEN skin test study II: clinical relevance of inhalant allergen sensitizations in Europe
Allergy
Cross-sectional survey on immunoglobulin E reactivity in 23,077 subjects using an allergenic molecule-based microarray detection system
Clin Exp Allergy
[Prevalence of sensitisation to aeraoallergens and food allergens: results of the German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Adults (DEGS1)]
Bundesgesundheitsblatt Gesundheitsforschung Gesundheitsschutz
The influence of sensitisation to pollens and moulds on seasonal variations in asthma attacks
Eur Respir J
Proteomic analysis of major and minor allergens from isolated pollen cytoplasmic granules
J Proteome Res
Multiple grass mixes as opposed to single grasses for allergen immunotherapy in allergic rhinitis
Clin Exp Allergy
Characteristics and immunobiology of grass pollen allergens
Int Arch Allergy Immunol
Molecular profiles of IgE to Phleum pratense in children with grass pollen allergy: implications for specific immunotherapy
J Allergy Clin Immunol
Change in the pattern of IgE reactivity to timothy grass and birch pollen allergens over a 20-year period
J Investig Allergol Clin Immunol
Different allergenic activity of grass pollen allergens revealed by skin testing
Eur J Clin Invest
Crystal structure and immunologic characterization of the major grass pollen allergen Phl p 4
J Allergy Clin Immunol
A human monoclonal IgE antibody defines a highly allergenic fragment of the major timothy grass pollen allergen, Phl p 5: molecular, immunological, and structural characterization of the epitope-containing domain
J Immunol
The European Union CREATE project: a model for international standardization of allergy diagnostics and vaccines
J Allergy Clin Immunol
Antigenic similarity among group 1 allergens from grasses and quantitation ELISA using monoclonal antibodies to Phl p 1
Int Arch Allergy Immunol
Cited by (0)
This publication arises from HIALINE, a project that has received funding from the European Union in the framework of the Health Programme.
Disclosure of potential conflict of interest: J. Buters has received or has grants pending from Foundation CK-CARE. S. Celenk's institution has received funding from the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK 109S032). B. Weber is employed by Allergopharma GmbH & Co. KG. The rest of the authors declare that they have no relevant conflicts of interest.
- †
Deceased.