Relationship between Poaceae pollen and Phl p 5 allergen concentrations and the impact of weather variables and air pollutants on their levels in the atmosphere

Abstract

The sensitization to grass pollen is a known problem in European countries. Phl p 5 is an important allergen recognized by the majority of grass sensitized individuals. In this study, we evaluated daily variation in airborne Poaceae pollen and Phl p 5 allergen concentrations to determine whether airborne pollen concentrations alone are sufficient to reflect the actual allergenic potential of the air. The relationships between the mentioned pollen and allergen concentrations and associated environmental variables were also examined. The airborne particles were collected during the Poaceae flowering season in Bratislava in 2019. Pollen sampling was performed using a Hirst-type sampler, while a cyclone sampler was used for the aeroallergen capturing. Allergenic molecules were quantified by ELISA assay. The associations between pollen and allergen concentrations showed that these two variables are positively correlated; however, the correlation was not significant. We observed the concurrent occurrence of airborne pollen and allergen peaks on the same day. Nevertheless, during some days of the pollen season, the allergen concentrations did not correspond to the airborne pollen values. Moreover, the days with low pollen concentration but high pollen potency and vice versa were observed. The effect of selected environmental variables on daily pollen and allergen concentrations was evaluated through Spearman ' s correlation analysis. Of all meteorological variables considered, air temperature, precipitation, and relative air humidity were significantly correlated with airborne pollen and/or allergen concentrations. The association with air temperature was positive, while the negative association was observed with precipitation and relative air humidity. Among the atmospheric pollutants, O 3 and PM 10 were significantly and positively associated with both pollen and allergen concentrations, whereas CO and PM 2.5 were significantly and positively associated only with pollen concentration.

Combined synoptic and regional weather patterns affecting atmospheric Poaceae pollen concentrations in Sydney, Australia

“…In this study, Poaceae pollen concentrations were positively correlated with temperature and sunlight and negatively correlated with relative humidity and precipitation. These results are consistent with the behaviour of pollen release from the anther (Pacini, 2000) and known meteorological effects on atmospheric pollen concentrations (Taylor et al, 2002;Ianovici et al, 2015;Peternel et al, 2006;Ščevková et al, 2020;Green et al, 2004 andStennett &Beggs, 2004). However, our results show that the correlations with relative humidity and precipitation were only significant during the last three months of the study after an intense and prolonged drought in New South Wales, which may have affected the number of extreme Poaceae pollen concentration days observed during the study.…”

“…3). Previous studies have also observed a reduction in pollen concentration with increasing distances from rural areas, changes in land-use practices and different microclimates that dictate species biodiversity (Ianovici et al, 2015;Peternel et al, 2006;Ščevková et al, 2020).…”

Atmospheric pollutants and their association with olive and grass aeroallergen concentrations in Córdoba (Spain)

“…Moreover, pollen grains under extreme conditions could produce more allergens as a response to make sure pollination (Moreno-Grau et al, 2016 ; Plaza et al, 2016a ). In the particular case of grasses, there is a sequence in the PAP depending on the species, and this can be observed in significant differences in seasonal variables such as temperature (Bruffaerts et al, 2018 ; García-Mozo, 2017 ; Ščevková et al, 2020 ).…”

‘Pollen potency’: the relationship between atmospheric pollen counts and allergen exposure

“…This further highlights the difficulty of transferring pollen potency research: trends observed in one taxon in a given location cannot be extrapolated to any other. Further, due to the limited taxonomic resolution of current pollen detection methods for grass (Campbell et al, 2020;Jones et al, 2020), overlapping seasons of cross-reactive species and the presence of more than one major allergen (Lol p 1 and Phl p 5) further confound the conclusions that can be drawn about grass pollen potency (Buters et al, 2015;Jochner et al, 2015;Š čevková et al, 2020). Finally, given the substantial and non-systematic geospatial variation in pollen potency, we also conclude that findings cannot be extrapolated geospatially, nor by climatic region.…”