Sin A Z, Ersoy R, Gulbahar O, Ardeniz O, Gokmen N M, Kokuludag A
Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Ege University Medical Faculty, Izmir, Turkey.
J Investig Allergol Clin Immunol. 2008;18(1):46-51.
Pollens from the Cupressaceae family are considered important allergens in the Mediterranean area, though reports of the prevalence of allergic symptoms have ranged from 1.04% to 35.4%. Our aim was to detect the prevalence of cypress pollen sensitization and determine its clinical importance in patients with seasonal respiratory allergy.
We used skin prick tests (SPT) and serum specific IgE assays to reveal sensitization to cypress pollen. In patients who showed positive results to cypress pollen, a nasal provocation test (NPT) with pollen extract was used to assess the target organ response.
Sixty-five (14.3%) of 455 patients showed positive SPT responses to Cupressus sempervirens extract. Only 1 patient was monosensitized while 64 patients were polysensitized. Among those, 2 pollen cosensitizations were found to be significant (86% were cosensitized to grasses and 72% were cosensitized to olive (P < .001). Serum specific IgE to cypress pollen was measured in 50 of the 65 patients; findings were positive for 37. When these 37 patients underwent NPT with C sempervirens allergen extract, only the single monosensitized patient had a positive NPT.
A positive SPT to cypress pollen may not reflect the true prevalence of sensitization. We assume that in the absence of a positive NPT, positive SPT results might be related to the presence of cross-reactivity between pollen species.
柏科花粉被认为是地中海地区重要的过敏原，不过过敏症状患病率的报告范围在1.04%至35.4%之间。我们的目的是检测柏树花粉致敏的患病率，并确定其在季节性呼吸道过敏患者中的临床重要性。
我们采用皮肤点刺试验（SPT）和血清特异性IgE检测来揭示对柏树花粉的致敏情况。对柏树花粉检测结果呈阳性的患者，采用花粉提取物进行鼻激发试验（NPT）来评估靶器官反应。
455例患者中有65例（14.3%）对地中海柏木提取物的皮肤点刺试验呈阳性反应。仅1例患者为单一致敏，64例患者为多重致敏。其中，发现2种花粉共同致敏具有显著意义（86%对禾本科植物共同致敏，72%对橄榄共同致敏（P <.001））。65例患者中有50例检测了血清中柏树花粉特异性IgE；37例结果呈阳性。当这37例患者接受地中海柏木过敏原提取物的鼻激发试验时，只有那例单一致敏患者的鼻激发试验呈阳性。
对柏树花粉皮肤点刺试验呈阳性可能无法反映真正的致敏患病率。我们推测，在鼻激发试验呈阴性的情况下，皮肤点刺试验阳性结果可能与花粉种类之间存在交叉反应有关。
