Immunochemical estimations of allergenic activities from outdoor aero‐allergens, collected by a high‐volume air sampler

Abstract

To quantify airborne allergens in amorphus and morphological particles, a survey with collection of aero-allergens on glass fibre filters by means of a high-volume air-sampler (HIVOL) was conducted. In preliminary laboratory experiments we compared various filter elution techniques, and the pulverizing elution technique was found to be optimal with regard to yield and convenience. When a surfactant, Tween 20 (0.5% v/v), was added to the elution buffer, a recovery of 80% could be obtained. Allergens in eluates were analysed by means of an IgG-subclass RAST inhibition assay. This immunochemical method for quantification of airborne allergens was validated, as a high recovery of timothy grass pollen allergens was eluted from air filters, and eluates were shown specific by RAST inhibition. The amount of immunochemically measured airborne timothy and birch allergens collected by means of the HIVOL sampler was highly correlated with pollen counts obtained with a Burkard sampler (pollen trap) situated in the same place.

Grass-pollen allergen carried by the smaller micronic aerosol fraction

“…The allergen detection methods used in this and other studies (Agarwal et al 1984, Jensen et al 1989, Spieksma et al 1990) are not very sensitive, and require sampling of relatively high quantities of air. This is particularly true for the collection of most…”

“…However, symptoms of the lower bronchial regions of the respiratory tract, like coughing and wheezing, are also frequently seen in pollen-allergic patients. Although it is plausible that a small number of airborne pollen grains might be capable of penetrating into the lower regions of the respiratory organs (Michel et al 1977), suggestions and evidence for airborne allergenic activity associated with particles smaller than intact pollen grains have been put forward by several authors (Solomon et al 1983, Agarwal et al 1984, Rantio-Lehtimlki et al 1986, Jensen et al 1989. Sampling i f multiple size fractions followed by immuno-assay assessment of airborne grass-pollen allergenic activity has been described only recently (Spieksma et al 1990).…”

Sensitivity of IgG-ELISA for Detecting Airborne Pollen Antigens of Betulaceae

“…Several studies on airborne pollen antigens have been performed using various immunochemical methods, such as IgG-subclass RAST-inhibition (Jensen et al 1989), IgE-RAST (Spieksma et al 1990) and IgG-ELISA (Pehkonen & Rantio-Lehtimiiki 1994, Rantio-Lehtimaki et al 1994. The specificity of these methods has not been investigated in detail.…”

Allergenicity of grass pollen in settled dust in rural and urban homes in Finland

“…(Manuscript accepted 1 September 1997) The allergen load of outdoor airborne grass pollen has been reported to correlate with airborne pollen counts (Jensen et al 1989, Johnsen et al 1992, especially on dry days during the grass pollen season (Spieksma et al 1995). It is also suggested that allergic symptoms in sensitized persons are related to allergen concentration.…”