Almost 90% of grass pollen-allergic patients are sensitized against group 5 grass pollen allergens. We isolated a monoclonal human IgE Fab out of a combinatorial library prepared from lymphocytes of a grass pollen-allergic patient and studied its interaction with group 5 allergens. The IgE Fab cross-reacted with group 5A isoallergens from several grass and corn species. By allergen gene fragmen...

BACKGROUND Although many patients with allergic rhinitis have symptoms due to sensitization to more than one kind of allergens, and mixed allergen extracts are widely used for immunotherapy, there are few published trials. OBJECTIVE Our study aimed to evaluate the effect of multiple-allergen immunotherapy on improving the symptoms and quality of life of allergic rhinitis patients. METHODS W...

The date palm (Phoenix dactylifera) has a wide geographical distribution (Middle East, Mediterranean, central Africa, western Asia, Australia, and North America). Pho d 2, the major allergen of date palm pollen was recently identified as a profilin, yet little is known about the nature of the other pollen allergens from this tree. The objective of this study was to characterize clinically signi...

Background: Allergy to Saffron (Crocus sativus) pollen has been described in people involved in processing of saffron flower stamens. Profilins have been identified as a pan-allergen in different plant pollens and foods. This molecule is an actin-binding pro-tein with a molecular weight of 12-16 kDa found in eukaryotic species. Objective: The aim of this study was to generate monoclonal antibod...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Specific hyper-responsiveness towards an allergen and non-specific airway hyperreactivity both impair quality of life in patients with respiratory allergic diseases. We aimed to investigate cellular responses following specific and non-specific airway challenges locally and systemically in i) sensitized BALB/c mice challenged with grass pollen allergen Phl p 5, and in ii) gr...

Comparative genomics have facilitated the mining of biological information from a genome sequence, through the detection of similarities and differences with genomes of closely or more distantly related species. By using such comparative approaches, knowledge can be transferred from the model to non-model organisms and insights can be gained in the structural and evolutionary patterns of specif...

BACKGROUND Allergen extracts may be different due to the difference in dissemination of allergen-containing species in various geographical areas. Therefore, we wish to develop our own extracts to ensure the precision and quality of diagnosis. OBJECTIVES To compare the efficacy and safety of our locally prepared pollen allergen extracts to imported ones, using skin prick testing (SPT) and ser...

BACKGROUND Subcutaneous immunotherapy with high dose grass pollen (typically microgram quantities) was first described over 100 years ago. This treatment suppresses allergen-induced cutaneous late responses, with lesser effects on early responses. We previously reported that repeated 2-weekly intradermal injections of grass pollen - containing approximately 7 ng of major allergen Phl p 5 - led ...

Allergen exposure can confound the management of asthma. To understand the potential mechanisms by which allergens increase the steroid requirements in atopic asthmatics, we examined the effects of allergens on glucocorticoid receptor (GCR) binding affinity and glucocorticoid (GC) responsiveness of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from atopic asthmatics. A significant reduction (p < 0....

OBJECTIVE Allergic disease caused by airborne pollen is a major health problem in China. Intensive study on pollen allergens can be of great help for preventing and treating pollinosis. Four aspects of the study on pollen allergens in China including major allergic pollen in our country, analysis and purification of pollen allergen composition, recombinant pollen allergens and clinical applicat...