Pollen Allergens for Molecular Diagnosis

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Abstract

Pollen allergens are one of the main causes of type I allergies affecting up to 30 % of the population in industrialized countries. Climatic changes affect the duration and intensity of pollen seasons and may together with pollution contribute to increased incidences of respiratory allergy and asthma. Allergenic grasses, trees, and weeds often present similar habitats and flowering periods compromising clinical anamnesis. Molecule-based approaches enable distinction between genuine sensitization and clinically mostly irrelevant IgE cross-reactivity due to, e. g., panallergens or carbohydrate determinants. In addition, sensitivity as well as specificity can be improved and lead to identification of the primary sensitizing source which is particularly beneficial regarding polysensitized patients. This review gives an overview on relevant pollen allergens and their usefulness in daily practice. Appropriate allergy diagnosis is directly influencing decisions for therapeutic interventions, and thus, reliable biomarkers are pivotal when considering allergen immunotherapy in the context of precision medicine.

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Recent warming by latitude associated with increased length of ragweed pollen season in central North America.

L. Ziska, K. Knowlton, C. Rogers … (2011)

A fundamental aspect of climate change is the potential shifts in flowering phenology and pollen initiation associated with milder winters and warmer seasonal air temperature. Earlier floral anthesis has been suggested, in turn, to have a role in human disease by increasing time of exposure to pollen that causes allergic rhinitis and related asthma. However, earlier floral initiation does not necessarily alter the temporal duration of the pollen season, and, to date, no consistent continental trend in pollen season length has been demonstrated. Here we report that duration of the ragweed (Ambrosia spp.) pollen season has been increasing in recent decades as a function of latitude in North America. Latitudinal effects on increasing season length were associated primarily with a delay in first frost of the fall season and lengthening of the frost free period. Overall, these data indicate a significant increase in the length of the ragweed pollen season by as much as 13-27 d at latitudes above ~44°N since 1995. This is consistent with recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change projections regarding enhanced warming as a function of latitude. If similar warming trends accompany long-term climate change, greater exposure times to seasonal allergens may occur with subsequent effects on public health.

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Advances in allergen-microarray technology for diagnosis and monitoring of allergy: the MeDALL allergen-chip.

Daniel K. Ebner, K Roux, Yvonne Resch … (2014)

Allergy diagnosis based on purified allergen molecules provides detailed information regarding the individual sensitization profile of allergic patients, allows monitoring of the development of allergic disease and of the effect of therapies on the immune response to individual allergen molecules. Allergen microarrays contain a large variety of allergen molecules and thus allow the simultaneous detection of allergic patients' antibody reactivity profiles towards each of the allergen molecules with only minute amounts of serum. In this article we summarize recent progress in the field of allergen microarray technology and introduce the MeDALL allergen-chip which has been developed for the specific and sensitive monitoring of IgE and IgG reactivity profiles towards more than 170 allergen molecules in sera collected in European birth cohorts. MeDALL is a European research program in which allergen microarray technology is used for the monitoring of the development of allergic disease in childhood, to draw a geographic map of the recognition of clinically relevant allergens in different populations and to establish reactivity profiles which are associated with and predict certain disease manifestations. We describe technical advances of the MeDALL allergen-chip regarding specificity, sensitivity and its ability to deliver test results which are close to in vivo reactivity. In addition, the usefulness and numerous advantages of allergen microarrays for allergy research, refined allergy diagnosis, monitoring of disease, of the effects of therapies, for improving the prescription of specific immunotherapy and for prevention are discussed. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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Geographical variation in the prevalence of positive skin tests to environmental aeroallergens in the European Community Respiratory Health Survey I.

P Bousquet, , C. Janson … (2007)

Many studies have reported the prevalence of sensitization using skin prick tests. However, comparisons between studies and between regions are difficult because the number and the type of allergens tested vary widely. Using the European Community Health Respiratory Survey I data, the geographical variation of sensitization to environmental allergen as measured by skin tests was established. Adults aged 20-44 years, living in 35 centres in 15 developed countries, underwent skin tests for allergy to nine common aeroallergens: Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus, timothy grass, cat, Cladosporium herbarium, Alternaria alternata, birch, Olea europea, common ragweed and Parietaria judaica. The age-sex standardized prevalence of sensitization was determined and centres with high (95% confidence interval above and excluding study median) and low prevalence (95% confidence interval below and excluding study median) of sensitization to each allergen and to any of the nine allergens were identified. There was substantial geographical variation in the prevalence of sensitization to each of the nine allergens tested and in the prevalence of sensitization to any allergen (lowest 17.1%, median 36.8% and highest 54.8%). Sensitization to D. pteronyssinus, grass pollen and cat were usually the most prevalent (median between centre 21.7%, 16.9% and 8.8%, respectively). Timothy grass sensitization was higher than that for any other pollen species. As expected, geographical variations of sensitization to environmental allergen were observed across centres. These findings were compatible for those observed with serum-specific IgE. Skin tests can be used to assess the geographical distribution of allergens in a multicentric epidemiological survey.

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Author and article information

Contributors

Isabel Pablos: Isabel.Pablos@sbg.ac.at

Sabrina Wildner: Sabrina.Wildner@sbg.ac.at

Claudia Asam: Claudia.Asam@sbg.ac.at

Michael Wallner: Michael.Wallner@sbg.ac.at

Gabriele Gadermaier: 0043-662-8044-5974 , Gabriele.Gadermaier@sbg.ac.at

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): Curr Allergy Asthma Rep

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): Curr Allergy Asthma Rep

Title: Current Allergy and Asthma Reports

Publisher: Springer US (New York )

ISSN (Print): 1529-7322

ISSN (Electronic): 1534-6315

Publication date (Electronic): 22 March 2016

Publication date PMC-release: 22 March 2016

Publication date (Print): 2016

Volume: 16

Electronic Location Identifier: 31

Affiliations

[ ]Department of Molecular Biology, University of Salzburg, Hellbrunner Straße 34, 5020 Salzburg, Austria

[ ]Christian Doppler Laboratory for Biosimilar Characterization, University of Salzburg, Hellbrunner Straße 34, 5020 Salzburg, Austria

Article

Publisher ID: 603

DOI: 10.1007/s11882-016-0603-z

PMC ID: 4803804

PubMed ID: 27002515

SO-VID: 82703a29-1dc9-474d-a524-0009df516182

License:

Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.

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Funding

Funded by: FundRef http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100002428, Austrian Science Fund;

Award ID: I 1152, P27589 and L688

Award Recipient : Gabriele Gadermaier

Funded by: Austrian Federal Ministry of Science, Research and Economy

Funded by: National Foundation of Research, Technology and Development, Land Salzburg

Funded by: Allergy-Cancer-BioNano Research Centre

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ScienceOpen disciplines: Immunology

Keywords: pollen allergens,molecule-based diagnosis,grass pollen allergens,tree pollen allergens,weed pollen allergens

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ScienceOpen disciplines: Immunology

Keywords: pollen allergens, molecule-based diagnosis, grass pollen allergens, tree pollen allergens, weed pollen allergens

Pollen Allergens for Molecular Diagnosis

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Abstract

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Climate Change: Open Access

Most cited references 95

Recent warming by latitude associated with increased length of ragweed pollen season in central North America.

Advances in allergen-microarray technology for diagnosis and monitoring of allergy: the MeDALL allergen-chip.

Geographical variation in the prevalence of positive skin tests to environmental aeroallergens in the European Community Respiratory Health Survey I.

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