Hypersensitivity to pollen allergens on the Adriatic coast.

Abstract

This paper describes a study of air concentrations of pollens and a calendar of pollination around the town of Split on the Croatian Adriatic in 1994. High pollen concentrations of Parietaria officinalis dominated during the year (up to 20% from April to June) followed by the pollens of Pistacia lentiscus, Olea europaea, Pinus halepensis, Juniperus oxycedrus, Acacia baileyana, Artemisia vulgaris, Ambrosia elatior and Cistus monspeliensis. In 1994-95, skin prick tests using commercially available standard inhalation allergens and specially prepared pollen allergens were performed on 3,500 patients with allergic respiratory symptoms. About 30% were allergic to standard pollen allergens (mixed grass pollen, mixed tree pollen, Parietaria officinalis and Pittosporum tobira). Hypersensitivity to more than one allergen was found in 45% of patients, whereas 15% did not react to any of the standard allergens. Additional testing with newly prepared individual allergens (P. lentiscus, O. europaea, P. halepensis, A. baileyana, C. monspeliensis, A. vulgaris, A. elatior) revealed hypersensitivity in a number of patients, but 36% showed no reaction. This finding suggests that further studies of this kind are needed for additional identification, isolation, and characterisation of pollen allergens that are present in the Adriatic coast.