Pooideae molecular sensitization profile in selected rhinitis patients with allergy to grass pollen and maize-derived edible products

Methods Patients from Southern Romania with grass pollen rhinitis, diagnosed by allergy evaluation with positive skin prick tests and high serum levels of specific IgE to Pooideae pollen, were screened for food allergy by detailed clinical history of symptoms related to maize-derived edible products, including foods with corn as basic ingredient, such as polenta, porridge, cornflakes, tortilla chips, popcorn, canned kernels, or traditional products, such as stigmas and corncob leaves with pollen deposition. Patients with occupational exposure to maize flour or pollen were not included, and ceremonial use of oral corn pollen in the Romanian Plain was not reported. We assessed the IgE sensitization profile to pollen allergen components used as biomarkers of Pooideae allergy by a novel multiparameter immunoblot test system.