Identification of common allergenic structures in hazel pollen and hazelnuts: A possible explanation for sensitivity to hazelnuts in patients allergic to tree pollen

Pollen cross‐reactivity. Can we establish a link between the in vitro results and the clinical situation?

“…Statistical analysis of the CAP data mostly confirmed the results of previous studies (9,11,12,19) (Table 3). Tliere was good correlation between rBet V 1, birch, alder, and hazel pollen.…”

“…Some of them may suffer from systemic symptoms such as urticaria, angioedema, asthma, or anaphylactic shock (6,7). Bet v 1 and Bet v 2 (profilin) are the major birch-pollen allergens responsible for most cross-reactions between birch pollen and related foods (8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13). However, concomitant sensitizations to mugwort and/or grass pollen are often present (14)(15)(16)(17)(18) (Fig.…”

Conversion of the major birch pollen allergen, Bet v 1, into two nonanaphylactic T cell epitope-containing fragments: candidates for a novel form of specific immunotherapy.

“…Birch pollen allergen, Bet v 1 (9,12), was chosen as a model because it represents the major allergen for Ͼ 95% of tree pollen and plant food allergic patients and Ͼ 60% of these patients are sensitized exclusively to Bet v 1 (12,13). In addition, Bet v 1 binds a high percentage of specific serum IgE antibodies and shares B cell as well as T cell epitopes with homologous allergens present in tree pollen and plant-derived food (15,16,(31)(32)(33)(34).…”

Expression of Zm13, a pollen specific maize protein, in Escherichia coli reveals IgE‐binding capacity and allergenic potential

“…Tree pollen allergens (Bet vl [2], Bet v2 [3,4], Bet v3 [5]), grass pollen allergens (Lol pl [6], Phi p2 [7] and Lol p5 [8]) and weed allergens such as Arab al [9] showed highly upregulated expression in pollen. While allergens related to group l, 2 and 5 grass pollen allergens could not be detected in somatic plant tissues, small amounts of Bet vl and Bet v2 homologous proteins were identified in plant derived food (fruits, vegetables and spices) as elicitors of IgE-mediated food intolerance [10][11][12][13][14].Among pollen specific proteins two maize proteins showed significant sequence homologies to pollen allergens from different plant species. Zm58 was shown to be highly homlogous to the Amb al/2 family of ragweed allergens [15] and Zml3 [16,17] displayed sequence similarity with the major allergen of olive pollen, Ole el [18][19][20], and a rye grass allergen (Lolium perenne), Lol pl 1 [21].…”