New biomolecular tools for aerobiological monitoring: Identification of major allergenic Poaceae species through fast real-time PCR.

Grasses (Poaceae) are very common plants, which are widespread in all environments and urban areas. Despite their economical importance, they can represent a problem to humans due to their abundant production of allergenic pollen. Detailed information about the pollen season for these species is needed in order to plan adequate therapies and to warn allergic people about the risks they take in certain areas at certain moments.

Time linkages between pollination onsets of different taxa in Perugia, Central Italy--an update.

Introduction And Objective: In the last decades, increasing attention has been paid to pollinosis. Numerous studies have been carried out concerning the pollination timing of allergenic plant species and the possibility to forecast its beginning and intensity using several statistical methods and models. This study proposes a simple and fast method to identify in advance the time lapse in which the pollination of some allergenic taxa should start.

Ozone affects pollen viability and NAD(P)H oxidase release from Ambrosia artemisiifolia pollen.

Air pollution is frequently proposed as a cause of the increased incidence of allergy in industrialised countries. We investigated the impact of ozone (O(3)) on reactive oxygen species (ROS) and allergen content of ragweed pollen (Ambrosia artemisiifolia). Pollen was exposed to acute O(3) fumigation, with analysis of pollen viability, ROS and nitric oxide (NO) content, activity of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NAD[P]H) oxidase, and expression of major allergens.

Bridging allergologic and botanical knowledge in seasonal allergy: a role for phenology.

Background: Grass pollen is a worldwide cause of respiratory allergy. Identifying the causative species is essential, for example for choosing the appropriate immunotherapy, because not all grass allergens are totally cross-reacting, and the pollen calendars provide only a gross estimate. Phenologic analyses allow identification of the pollen release for each individual grass.

Thunderstorm-asthma and pollen allergy.

Thunderstorms have been linked to asthma epidemics, especially during the pollen seasons, and there are descriptions of asthma outbreaks associated with thunderstorms, which occurred in several cities, prevalently in Europe (Birmingham and London in the UK and Napoli in Italy) and Australia (Melbourne and Wagga Wagga). Pollen grains can be carried by thunderstorm at ground level, where pollen rupture would be increased with release of allergenic biological aerosols of paucimicronic size, derived from the cytoplasm and which can penetrate deep into lower airways. In other words, there is evidence that under wet conditions or during thunderstorms, pollen grains may, after rupture by osmotic shock, release into the atmosphere part of their content, including respirable, allergen-carrying cytoplasmic starch granules (0.