BACKGROUND The presence of profilin-specific IgE antibodies is a cause of cross-reactivity between botanically-unrelated allergen sources. Recently, the association between Platanus acerifolia pollinosis and plant-derived food allergy has been described. The aim of this study was to ascertain whether the P. acerifolia profilin is involved in such cross-reactivity. METHODS Twenty-three patient...

Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Remy, Dermatologische Klinik und Poliklinik, der Technischen Universität München, Biedersteiner Strasse 29, D-80802 München (FRG) In an interesting comment, recently published in this journal, Singh and Maibach [1] state that extensive research is still required to maximize iontophoresis for controlled systemic transdermal administration of charged, hydrophilic and large drug...

The bronchial epithelium plays a key role in providing a protective barrier against many environmental substances of anthropogenic or natural origin which enter the lungs during breathing. Appropriate responses to these agents are critical for regulation of tissue homeostasis, while inappropriate responses may contribute to disease pathogenesis. Here, we compared epithelial barrier responses to...

The aim of this study was to analyse the relationship between the distribution of hay-fever patients in the city of Córdoba, south-western Iberian Peninsula, and the specific atmospheric biological content originating from local sources. Four different districts were established in the metropolitan area of the city, according to vegetational and urbanistic characteristics. Air samples were take...

BACKGROUND Some patients seem to show a particular propensity to experience systemic reactions (SR) when undergoing SCIT. This study looked at their features. METHODS 423 adults submitted to subcutaneous immunotherapy (SCIT) with 583 depot allergens extracts were studied. A "slow" build-up schedule was followed, and maintenance doses were given monthly. No mixtures of allergens were employed;...

BACKGROUND Air pollution is frequently proposed as a potential cause of the increased incidence of allergy in industrialised countries. Our objective was to investigate the impact of the major gaseous air pollutants on grass pollen allergens. METHODS Timothy grass pollen was exposed to ozone (O(3)), nitrogen dioxide (NO(2)) and sulphur dioxide (SO(2)) alone or in combination. Allergen content...

BACKGROUND Rapeseed-mustard is the second most important source of edible oil in India. Several species of Brassica are grown in different parts of country for its oilseeds. OBJECTIVE The objective was to investigate allergenicity to antigenic extracts of pollen of 4 species of Brassica. METHODS Brassica campestris, Brassica juncea, Brassica nigra, and Brassica napus were selected for the d...

Patients and methods A 26 year old female patient developed erythema, swelling of the ears and pruritus within 10 min after ingestion of pomegranate. She is allergic to birch pollen and apple. Prick and IgE tests revealed a positive reaction to mites, tree and grass pollen, ambrosia, mugwort and apple. Scratch test was positive for pomegranate, the seeds showing a stronger reaction than the jui...

Background Millions of patients with allergy to birch pollen develop clinically cross-reactive IgE against Bet v 1-like proteins in plant foods. Specific immunotherapy (SIT) with birch pollen extracts induces the biosynthesis of Bet v 1-specific immunoglobulin (Ig)G4. IgG4 is believed to act as a blocking antibody preventing IgE binding to Bet v 1, thus alleviating allergic symptoms. Only littl...

We have isolated and characterized cDNA clones of a gene family (P2) expressed in Oenothera organensis pollen. This family contains approximately six to eight family members and is expressed at high levels only in pollen. The predicted protein sequence from a near full-length cDNA clone shows that the protein products of these genes are at least 38,000 daltons. We identified the protein encoded...