Background
The prevalence of asthma has increased in recent decades. Among the reasons for this increase is environmental pollution. Pollutants cause bronchial inflammation and introduce ...modifications in the pollen, making it more allergenic.
Objective
Assess symptoms and medication requirements of asthmatic patients with grass allergies in Madrid (high urban pollution) and Ciudad Real (low pollution), and simultaneously evaluate the in vitro effects that pollen collected in both areas has on the immune cells of patients.
Methods
During two pollen seasons, patients from both cities were included. The patients recorded their symptoms and the asthma medication they took daily. In both cities, pollen data, pollutants and meteorological variables were evaluated. The response to different cell populations from patients in both areas were analysed after “in vitro” stimulation with pollen from both cities.
Results
The symptoms and medication use of the patients in Madrid was 29.94% higher. The NO2 concentration in Madrid was triple that of Ciudad Real (33.4 vs. 9.1 µg/m3 of air). All other pollutants had very similar concentrations during the study period. Pollen from the high pollution area caused a significant enhancement of T‐CD8+ and NK cells proliferation compared with pollen of low pollution area, independently of the patient's origin.
Conclusion
Asthmatic patients from Madrid have a worse clinical evolution than those from Ciudad Real because of higher levels of urban pollution, and this could be driven by the higher capacity of pollen of Madrid to activate T‐CD8+ and NK cells.
Patients with asthma caused by grass pollen are affected by high pollution rates. In areas with high pollution their clinical symptoms intensify, and patients require more medication. Pollen from highly polluted areas alters the immune system of patients. It causes in vitro an enhanced stimulation of T‐CD8+ and NK cells which could be responsible for the clinical worsening of the patients.
Different clinical and molecular patterns of food allergy have been reported in different areas of the world. The aim of the study is to evaluate differences in allergen patterns among nut-allergic ...patients in two different areas of Spain.
A total of 77 patients with nut allergy from two different regions of Spain (Madrid and Asturias) were evaluated.
Hazelnut, peanut, and walnut were the three most frequent nuts eliciting allergy in both regions, but in a different order. Patients from Madrid experienced systemic reactions more often than patients from Asturias (73.5% Madrid vs. 50.0%,
< 0.05). The percentage of sensitizations to LTP (Lipid Transfer Protein) was higher than Bet v 1 (
< 0.05) in the Madrid area. The percentage of sensitizations in Asturias area was similar to LTP than Bet v 1 (Pru p 3 46.4%, Bet v 1 42.9%, ns). Bet v 1 was the predominant allergen involved among hazelnut-allergic patients (56.2%), while LTP was more common in peanut-allergic patients (61.5%).
Walnut, hazelnut, and peanut were the most frequent nuts eliciting allergy in Spain. Despite this, important differences in molecular pattern were appreciated not only between both regions, but also among nut-allergic patients in Asturias. The different molecular pattern was linked to the frequency of systemic symptoms.
Scope
Today, about 2–8% of the population of Western countries exhibits some type of food allergy whose impact ranges from localized symptoms confined to the oral mucosa to severe anaphylactic ...reactions. Consumed worldwide, lettuce is a Compositae family vegetable that can elicit allergic reactions. To date, however, only one lipid transfer protein has been described in allergic reaction to lettuce. The aim of this study was to identify potential new allergens involved in lettuce allergy.
Methods and results
Sera from 42 Spanish lettuce‐allergic patients were obtained from patients recruited at the outpatient clinic. IgE‐binding proteins were detected by SDS‐PAGE and immunoblotting. Molecular characterization of IgE‐binding bands was performed by MS. Thaumatin was purified using the Agilent 3100 OFFGEL system. The IgE‐binding bands recognized in the sera of more than 50% of patients were identified as lipid transfer protein (9 kDa), a thaumatin‐like protein (26 kDa), and an aspartyl protease (35 and 45 kDa). ELISA inhibition studies were performed to confirm the IgE reactivity of the purified allergen.
Conclusion
Two new major lettuce allergens—a thaumatin‐like protein and an aspartyl protease—have been identified and characterized. These allergens may be used to improve both diagnosis and treatment of lettuce‐allergic patients.
Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in children with allergic asthma Ruano, Francisco Javier; Somoza Álvarez, Maria Luisa; Haroun-Díaz, Elisa ...
Journal of allergy and clinical immunology. In practice/The Journal of allergy and clinical immunology. In practice,
10/2020, Letnik:
8, Številka:
9
Journal Article
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