Grass pollen immunotherapy induces highly cross‐reactive IgG antibodies to group V allergen from different grass species

Abstract

Sera from two groups of patients receiving grass pollen immunotherapy were tested on IgG reactivity with group V allergen from six different grass species. One group of patients was treated with a mixture of 10 grass species, and the other with a mixture of five. Only Lolium perenne, Dactylis glomerata, and Phleum pratense were present in both mixtures. Although Anthoxanthum odoratum and Secale cereale were absent from the mixture of five, IgG responses to Ant o V and Sec c V were comparable in both patient groups. This reactivity was inhibited for 92-99% with L. perenne extract, illustrating the cross-reactive nature of the IgG antibodies. The presence of A. odoratum and S. cereale in the mixture resulted in only minor amounts of species-specific anti-group V IgG. These results indicate that application of just one grass species in immunotherapy might be sufficient to induce an IgG response that covers other relevant Gramineae species as well.

A robust method for the estimation and visualization of IgE cross-reactivity likelihood between allergens belonging to the same protein family

“…Phl p 6.0101 may be grouped together with Pha a 5.03 and Pha a 5.0101, as these three have a relatively low similarity to Pha a 5.02, Hor v 5.0101 and Sec c 5.0101; however, they are quite similar to the remaining members of the family. The largest subgroup delineated includes Dac g 5.0101, Hol l 5.0101, Hol l 5.0201, Lol p 5.0101, Phl p 5.0101, Phl p 5.0201 and Poa 5.0101, and these allergens are most similar among the members of the family and therefore there is a medium-high or high likelihood of a cross-reactivity between them (Fig 17), which is consistent with observed patterns of clinical cross-reactivity [128, 132, 140–142]. Phl p 5.0101 (Fig 18B) and Lol p 5.0101 are also distinct as they both are similar to all members of the family (Figs 17 and 18B) [143–147].…”

The Immune Response to Intrinsic and Extrinsic Allergens: Determinants of Allergic Disease

“…There is no doubt that IT for certain allergens (those derived from grass, bee venom and cats) is efficacious, as judged by decreased allergic symptoms. While it is well recognized that injection of allergen is associated with marked increases in allergen-specific IgG Ab of the IgG4 isotype, there is conflicting data regarding the changes which occur at the T cell level [49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54]. In patients receiving preparations containing whole antigen, T cell hyporesponsiveness, as judged by decreased proliferation or decreased production of Th2 cytokines, has been reported [1, 2, 3, 4, 55, 56].…”