Artemisia is the most important outdoor allergen throughout China. It can cause allergic rhinitis, asthma, or both of them. Since it was verified as an allergenic pollen in 1960, it was identified two times in the Chinese National Pollen Survey (1984, 2009). The first oral immunotherapy double-blinded trial for Artemisia pollen asthma research was conducted in China in 1989 and published in 199...

The initial dose should be administered under the supervision of a physician because anaphylaxis and laryngopharyngeal edema have occurred in rare cases.1 The manufacturer suggests that timothy grass pollen allergen extract be avoided in patients taking beta blockers, alpha blockers, ergot alkaloids, tricyclic antidepressants, levothyroxine, monoamine oxidase inhibitors, chlorpheniramine, diphe...

Pollinosis to birch pollen is a common type I allergy in the Northern Hemisphere. Moreover, birch pollen-allergic individuals sensitized to the major birch pollen allergen Bet v 1 frequently develop allergic reactions to stone fruits, hazelnuts, and certain vegetables due to immunological cross-reactivity. The major T cell epitope Bet v 1(142-153) plays an important role in cross-reactivity bet...

Cupressaceae pollen is responsible for winter respiratory allergies in the Mediterranean area. Pollen grains of this diverse family share same characteristics under light microscopy. Consequently, partial contribution each species to airborne spectrum cannot be determined with conventional aerobiological methods. Studies on major aeroallergens offer better information allergic sensitization and...

Outdoor allergens are an important part of the exposures that lead to allergic disease. Understanding the role of outdoor allergens requires a knowledge of the nature of outdoor allergen-bearing particles, the distributions of their source, and the nature of the aerosols (particle types, sizes, dynamics of concentrations). Primary sources for outdoor allergens include vascular plants (pollen, f...

BACKGROUND The efficacy and safety of a 5-grass-pollen sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT) tablet (Stallergènes SA, Antony, France) have been evaluated in clinical studies during the pollen season. The allergen challenge chamber (ACC) has been developed as a pharmacodynamic assessment tool to control the environmental allergens and to avoid all problems associated with unpredictable pollen seasons....

The pathophysiological mechanisms of pollen-induced asthma have until now remained unclear, because pollen particles have generally been considered too large to penetrate into the lower respiratory tract. Such grains are therefore believed to be unable to induce an immunological response in the lower respiratory tract. There is evidence, however, that a small percentage of large particles (20-3...

The only causative treatment for IgE-mediated allergies is allergen-specific immunotherapy. However, fewer than 5% of allergy patients receive immunotherapy because of its long duration and risk of allergic side effects. We aimed at enhancing s.c. immunotherapy by direct administration of allergen into s.c. lymph nodes. The objective was to evaluate safety and efficacy compared with conventiona...

Limonium tataricum (Lt) is a plant belonging to the family of Plumbaginaceae. The role of this family and in particular, that of dried flowers (but not of the pollen) in occupational allergy has already been described. We have observed a farmer with asthma occurring in the presence of fresh flowers. Standard methacoline test demonstrated that the patient was a true asthmatic. The allergenicity ...

BACKGROUND The Environmental Exposure Unit (EEU) in Kingston, Ontario, Canada is a controlled allergen challenge facility (CACF) that has been previously clinically validated for the use of ragweed and grass pollen in clinical studies. In this study we aim to validate the use of birch pollen to challenge allergic participants. METHODS A total of 59 volunteers were screened and 38 birch allerg...