No abstract

None.

No abstract

Here we present, for the first time, an estimation of the total group 5 allergen content in respirable and nonrespirable particles in the atmosphere of Melbourne. These results highlight the different environmental risk factors for hay fever and allergic asthma in patients, as on days of rainfall following high grass pollen count, the risk for asthma sufferers is far greater than on days of high pollen count with no associated rainfall. Moreover, rainfall may also contribute to the release of allergens from fungal spores and, along with the release of free allergen molecules from pollen grains, may be able to interact with other particles such as pollutants (i.e. diesel exhaust carbon particles) to trigger allergic asthma.

No abstract

These results show that multiple peanut and tree nut sensitivities observed in allergic subjects may be due to cross-reactive B cell epitopes present in different peanut and tree nut allergens. The plant taxonomic classification of peanut and tree nuts does not appear to predict allergenic cross-reactivity.

DECP are in the respirable size range, can bind to the major grass pollen allergen Lol p 1 under in vitro conditions and represent a possible mechanism by which allergens can become concentrated in polluted air and thus trigger attacks of asthma.

The study below comprises prospective analysis of patterns of allergen-specific T-cell reactivity in a cohort of 23 children bled at regular intervals from 6-10 weeks to 2 years of age, together with cross sectional studies on panels of cord and adult blood samples. The results indicate reciprocal patterns of responses to dietary and inhalant allergens, the former being frequent in infancy but rare in adults, whereas the latter are preserved and expand between infancy and adulthood. These findings are consistent with a recently proposed model for the development of immunity to environmental allergens which involves allergen-driven T-cell "selection" during early life leading to deletion of food allergen-specific T-cells via the induction of specific anergy, with concomitant selection and ultimately expansion of mutually exclusive TH-1-like or TH-2-like reactivity to inhalant allergens via Immune Deviation mechanisms.