Lung and Allergy Research Centre, School of Medicine, The University of Queensland, Princess Alexandra Hospital Clinical Division, Woolloongabba, QLD 4076, Australia.
Clin Transl Allergy. 2012 Mar 5;2(1):4. doi: 10.1186/2045-7022-2-4.
Grass pollen allergens are a major cause of allergic respiratory disease but traditionally prescribing practice for grass pollen allergen-specific immunotherapy has favoured pollen extracts of temperate grasses. Here we aim to compare allergy to subtropical and temperate grass pollens in patients with allergic rhinitis from a subtropical region of Australia.
Sensitization to pollen extracts of the subtropical Bahia grass (Paspalum notatum), Johnson grass (Sorghum halepense) and Bermuda grass (Cynodon dactylon) as well as the temperate Ryegrass (Lolium perenne) were measured by skin prick in 233 subjects from Brisbane. Grass pollen-specific IgE reactivity was tested by ELISA and cross-inhibition ELISA.
Patients with grass pollen allergy from a subtropical region showed higher skin prick diameters with subtropical Bahia grass and Bermuda grass pollens than with Johnson grass and Ryegrass pollens. IgE reactivity was higher with pollen of Bahia grass than Bermuda grass, Johnson grass and Ryegrass. Patients showed asymmetric cross-inhibition of IgE reactivity with subtropical grass pollens that was not blocked by temperate grass pollen allergens indicating the presence of species-specific IgE binding sites of subtropical grass pollen allergens that are not represented in temperate grass pollens.
Subtropical grass pollens are more important allergen sources than temperate grass pollens for patients from a subtropical region. Targeting allergen-specific immunotherapy to subtropical grass pollen allergens in patients with allergic rhinitis in subtropical regions could improve treatment efficacy thereby reducing the burden of allergic rhinitis and asthma.
草花粉过敏原是引起过敏性呼吸道疾病的主要原因，但传统的草花粉过敏原特异性免疫疗法的处方实践更倾向于温带草花粉提取物。在这里，我们旨在比较来自澳大利亚亚热带地区的过敏性鼻炎患者对亚热带和温带草花粉的过敏反应。
通过皮肤点刺法测量 233 名来自布里斯班的患者对亚热带 Bahia 草（Paspalum notatum）、约翰逊草（Sorghum halepense）和百慕大草（Cynodon dactylon）以及温带黑麦草（Lolium perenne）花粉提取物的敏感性。通过 ELISA 和交叉抑制 ELISA 测试草花粉特异性 IgE 反应性。
来自亚热带地区的草花粉过敏患者对亚热带 Bahia 草和百慕大草花粉的皮肤点刺直径高于约翰逊草和黑麦草花粉。Bahia 草花粉的 IgE 反应性高于 Bermuda 草、约翰逊草和黑麦草花粉。患者表现出对亚热带草花粉的不对称 IgE 反应性交叉抑制，而这种抑制不受温带草花粉过敏原的阻断，表明存在亚热带草花粉过敏原的特异性 IgE 结合位点，而这些结合位点在温带草花粉中不存在。
对于来自亚热带地区的患者，亚热带草花粉比温带草花粉更重要的过敏原来源。在亚热带地区对过敏性鼻炎患者进行靶向过敏原特异性免疫疗法，针对亚热带草花粉过敏原，可能会提高治疗效果，从而减轻过敏性鼻炎和哮喘的负担。
