Airborne DNA: State of the art - Established methods and missing pieces in the molecular genetic detection of airborne microorganisms, viruses and plant particles.

Bioaerosol is composed of different particles, originating from organisms, or their fragments with different origin, shape, and size. Sampling, analysing, identification and describing this airborne diversity has been carried out for over 100 years, and more recently the use of molecular genetic tools has been implemented. However, up to now there are no established protocols or standards for detecting airborne diversity of bacteria, fungi, viruses, pollen, and plant particles.

European pollen reanalysis, 1980-2022, for alder, birch, and olive.

The dataset presents a 43 year-long reanalysis of pollen seasons for three major allergenic genera of trees in Europe: alder (Alnus), birch (Betula), and olive (Olea). Driven by the meteorological reanalysis ERA5, the atmospheric composition model SILAM predicted the flowering period and calculated the Europe-wide dispersion pattern of pollen for the years 1980-2022. The model applied an extended 4-dimensional variational data assimilation of in-situ observations of aerobiological networks in 34 European countries to reproduce the inter-annual variability and trends of pollen production and distribution.

Impact of environmental nitrogen pollution on pollen allergy: A scoping review.

The current rise in the prevalence of allergies to aeroallergens is incompletely understood and attributed to interactions with environmental changes and lifestyle changes. Environmental nitrogen pollution might be a potential driver of this increasing prevalence. While the ecological impact of excessive nitrogen pollution has been widely studied and is relatively well understood, its indirect effect on human allergies is not well documented.

Daily allergy burden and heart rate characteristics in adults with allergic rhinitis based on a wearable telemonitoring system.

Background: Allergic rhinitis includes a certain degree of autonomic imbalance. However, no information is available on how daily changes in allergy burden affect autonomic imbalance. We aimed to estimate associations between daily allergy burden (allergy symptoms and mood) and daily heart rate characteristics (resting heart rate and sample entropy, both biomarkers of autonomic balance) of adults with allergic rhinitis, based on real-world measurements with a wearable telemonitoring system.

Long-Term Pollen Monitoring in the Benelux: Evaluation of Allergenic Pollen Levels and Temporal Variations of Pollen Seasons.

Airborne pollen is a major cause of allergic rhinitis, affecting between 10 and 30% of the population in Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg (Benelux). Allergenic pollen is produced by wind pollinating plants and released in relatively low to massive amounts. Current climate changes, in combination with increasing urbanization, are likely to affect the presence of airborne allergenic pollen with respect to exposure intensity, timing as well as duration.

Predicting the severity of the grass pollen season and the effect of climate change in Northwest Europe.

Allergic rhinitis is an inflammation in the nose caused by overreaction of the immune system to allergens in the air. Managing allergic rhinitis symptoms is challenging and requires timely intervention. The following are major questions often posed by those with allergic rhinitis: How should I prepare for the forthcoming season? How will the season's severity develop over the years? No country yet provides clear guidance addressing these questions.

Residential green space and medication sales for childhood asthma: A longitudinal ecological study in Belgium.

Background: Living in green environments has been associated with various health benefits, but the evidence for positive effects on respiratory health in children is ambiguous.

Objective: To investigate if residential exposure to different types of green space is associated with childhood asthma prevalence in Belgium.

Methods: Asthma prevalence was estimated from sales data of reimbursed medication for obstructive airway disease (OAD) prescribed to children between 2010 and 2014, aggregated at census tract level (n = 1872) by sex and age group (6-12 and 13-18 years).

Modelling grass pollen levels in Belgium.

Biogenic aerosols such as airborne grass pollen affect the public health badly by putting additional distress on people already suffering from cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. In Belgium, daily airborne pollen concentrations are monitored offline at a few sites only, hampering the timely coverage of the country and short-term forecasts. Here we apply the Chemistry Transport Model SILAM to the Belgian territory to model the spatio-temporal airborne grass pollen levels near the surface based on bottom-up inventories of grass pollen emissions updated with the Copernicus land monitoring Service grassland map of 2015.

Familial hypersensitivity pneumonitis triggered by exposure during carpooling.

https://bit.ly/3hzvE4w.

Temperature-related changes in airborne allergenic pollen abundance and seasonality across the northern hemisphere: a retrospective data analysis.

Background: Ongoing climate change might, through rising temperatures, alter allergenic pollen biology across the northern hemisphere. We aimed to analyse trends in pollen seasonality and pollen load and to establish whether there are specific climate-related links to any observed changes.

Methods: For this retrospective data analysis, we did an extensive search for global datasets with 20 years or more of airborne pollen data that consistently recorded pollen season indices (eg, duration and intensity).

Relationships between aeroallergen levels and hospital admissions for asthma in the Brussels-Capital Region: a daily time series analysis.

Background: Outdoor pollen grain and fungal spore concentrations have been associated with severe asthma exacerbations at the population level. The specific impact of each taxon and the concomitant effect of air pollution on these symptoms have, however, still to be better characterized. This study aimed to investigate the short-term associations between ambient concentrations of various aeroallergens and hospitalizations related to asthma in the Brussels-Capital Region (Belgium), an area recording especially high rates of admissions.

Comparative long-term trend analysis of daily weather conditions with daily pollen concentrations in Brussels, Belgium.

A clear rise in seasonal and annual temperatures, a gradual increase of total radiation, and a relative trend of change in seasonal precipitation have been observed for the last four decades in Brussels (Belgium). These local modifications may have a direct and indirect public health impact by altering the timing and intensity of allergenic pollen seasons. In this study, we assessed the statistical correlations (Spearman's test) between pollen concentration and meteorological conditions by using long-term daily datasets of 11 pollen types (8 trees and 3 herbaceous plants) and 10 meteorological parameters observed in Brussels between 1982 and 2015.

Virulence and immunogenicity of genetically defined human and porcine isolates of M. avium subsp. hominissuis in an experimental mouse infection.

Mycobacterium avium subsp. hominissuis (Mah) represents a health concern for humans and to a lesser extent for pigs, but its zoonotic potential remains elusive. Using multispacer sequence typing (MST) we previously identified 49 different genotypes of Mah among Belgian clinical and porcine isolates, with 5 MSTs shared by both hosts.

Genome Sequences of Four Strains of Mycobacterium avium subsp. hominissuis, Isolated from Swine and Humans, Differing in Virulence in a Murine Intranasal Infection Model.

This paper announces the genome sequences of four strains of Mycobacterium avium subsp. hominissuis, isolated from cases of lymphadenopathy in swine and humans, differing in virulence in a murine intranasal infection model.

Genotyping and strain distribution of Mycobacterium avium subspecies hominissuis isolated from humans and pigs in Belgium, 2011-2013.

Mycobacterium avium represents a health concern for both humans and pigs. The characterisation of its subspecies is an important step improving the understanding of the epidemiology and the control of this pathogen. Ninety-two human M.

Increased B and T Cell Responses in M. bovis Bacille Calmette-Guérin Vaccinated Pigs Co-Immunized with Plasmid DNA Encoding a Prototype Tuberculosis Antigen.

The only tuberculosis vaccine currently available, bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) is a poor inducer of CD8(+) T cells, which are particularly important for the control of latent tuberculosis and protection against reactivation. As the induction of strong CD8(+) T cell responses is a hallmark of DNA vaccines, a combination of BCG with plasmid DNA encoding a prototype TB antigen (Ag85A) was tested. As an alternative animal model, pigs were primed with BCG mixed with empty vector or codon-optimized pAg85A by the intradermal route and boosted with plasmid delivered by intramuscular electroporation.

DNA vaccines against tuberculosis.

Introduction: Tuberculosis (TB) remains a major health problem and novel vaccination regimens are urgently needed.

Areas Covered: DNA vaccines against TB have been tested in various preclinical models and strategies have been developed to increase their immunogenicity in large animal species. DNA vaccines are able to induce a wide variety of immune responses, including CD8(+) T-cell-mediated cytolytic and IFN-γ responses.

Increasing the Vaccine Potential of Live M. bovis BCG by Coadministration with Plasmid DNA Encoding a Tuberculosis Prototype Antigen.

The attenuated live M. bovis Bacille-Calmette-Guérin (BCG) is still the sole vaccine used against tuberculosis, but confers only variable efficacy against adult pulmonary tuberculosis (TB). Though no clear explanation for this limited efficacy has been given, different hypotheses have been advanced, such as the waning of memory T-cell responses, a reduced antigenic repertoire and the inability to induce effective CD8⁺ T-cell responses, which are known to be essential for latent tuberculosis control.

Genetic risk assessment for cardiovascular disease in Azoreans (Portugal): a general population-based study.

The identification of clinically validated genetic variants contributing to complex disorders raise the possibility to investigate individuals' risk. In this line of research, the present work aimed to assess the genetic risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD) in Azoreans. Genotyping of 19 SNPs - 9 on 9p21, 5 on LDLR and 5 on USF1 - was performed by TaqMan assays on 170 healthy Azorean individuals.