A temporally and spatially explicit, data-driven estimation of airborne ragweed pollen concentrations across Europe.

Ongoing and future climate change driven expansion of aeroallergen-producing plant species comprise a major human health problem across Europe and elsewhere. There is an urgent need to produce accurate, temporally dynamic maps at the continental level, especially in the context of climate uncertainty. This study aimed to restore missing daily ragweed pollen data sets for Europe, to produce phenological maps of ragweed pollen, resulting in the most complete and detailed high-resolution ragweed pollen concentration maps to date. To achieve this, we have developed two statistical procedures, a Gaussian method (GM) and deep learning (DL) for restoring missing daily ragweed pollen data sets, based on the plant's reproductive and growth (phenological, pollen production and frost-related) characteristics. DL model performances were consistently better for estimating seasonal pollen integrals than those of the GM approach. These are the first published modelled maps using altitude correction and flowering phenology to recover missing pollen information. We created a web page (http://euragweedpollen.gmf.u-szeged.hu/), including daily ragweed pollen concentration data sets of the stations examined and their restored daily data, allowing one to upload newly measured or recovered daily data. Generation of these maps provides a means to track pollen impacts in the context of climatic shifts, identify geographical regions with high pollen exposure, determine areas of future vulnerability, apply spatially-explicit mitigation measures and prioritize management interventions.

Co-exposure to highly allergenic airborne pollen and fungal spores in Europe.

The study is aimed at determining the potential spatiotemporal risk of the co-occurrence of airborne pollen and fungal spores high concentrations in different bio-climatic zones in Europe. Birch, grass, mugwort, ragweed, olive pollen and Alternaria and Cladosporium fungal spores were investigated at 16 sites in Europe, in 2005-2019. In Central and northern Europe, pollen and fungal spore seasons mainly overlap in June and July, while in South Europe, the highest pollen concentrations occur frequently outside of the spore seasons. In the coldest climate, no allergy thresholds were exceeded simultaneously by two spore or pollen taxa, while in the warmest climate most of the days with at least two pollen taxa exceeding threshold values were observed. The annual air temperature amplitude seems to be the main bioclimatic factor influencing the accumulation of days in which Alternaria and Cladosporium spores simultaneously exceed allergy thresholds. The phenomenon of co-occurrence of airborne allergen concentrations gets increasingly common in Europe and is proposed to be present on other continents, especially in temperate climate.

Air pollution in the places of Betula pendula growth and development changes the physicochemical properties and the main allergen content of its pollen.

Pollen allergy becomes an increasing problem for humans, especially in the regions, where the air pollution level increases due to the traffic and urbanization. These factors may also affect the physiological activity of plants, causing changes in pollen allergenicity. The aim of the study was to estimate the influence of air pollutants on the chemical composition of birch pollen and the secondary structures of the Bet v1 protein. The research was conducted in seven locations in Malopolska region, South of Poland of a different pollution level. We have found slight fluctuations in the values of parameters describing the photosynthetic light reactions, similar spectra of leaf reflectance and the negligible differences in the discrimination values of the δ13C carbon isotope were found. The obtained results show a minor effect of a degree of pollution on the physiological condition B. pendula specimen. On the other hand, mean Bet v1 concentration measured in pollen samples collected in Kraków was significantly higher than in less polluted places (p = .03886), while FT-Raman spectra showed the most distinct variations in the wavenumbers characteristic of proteins. Pollen collected at sites of the increased NOx and PM concentration, show the highest percentage values of potential aggregated forms and antiparallel ß-sheets in the expense of α-helix, presenting a substantial impact on chemical compounds of pollen, Bet v1 concentration and on formation of the secondary structure of proteins, what can influence their functions.

Scraping nasal cytology in the diagnostics of rhinitis and the comorbidities.

Nasal scraping cytology is a non-invasive tool used in the diagnostics of allergic and non-allergic rhinitis. The study aimed to analyze to what extent the cytological picture of the nasal mucosa coincides with the diagnosis of a given disease, taking into account the content of eosinophils. Retrospective analysis of the cytograms performed in 842 patients was carried out in relation to the disease entities and the content of eosinophils. Significant relationship between the Epith:Infl ratio and the four groups of diseases (Chi2 = 9.6488; p = .014) was confirmed. The more intensive inflammation was found, the higher percentage of patients had manifested the increased level of eosinophils (> 1% in the inflammatory cells). The value of 20% of eosinophils in all counted cells corresponds to around 45% of eosinophils in the inflammatory cells in patients with the evident inflammatory picture. Allergic rhinitis presents a different cytological picture regarding the eosinophilic reaction against the background of the inflammation process: the higher degree of inflammation observed, the lower amount of eosinophils detected, with the exception of allergic rhinitis provoked by pollen allergens.

Bioaerosols on the atmospheric super highway: An example of long distance transport of Alternaria spores from the Pannonian Plain to Poland.

Alternaria spores are pathogenic to agricultural crops, and the longest and the most severe sporulation seasons are predominantly recorded in rural areas, e.g. the Pannonian Plain (PP) in South-Central Europe. In Poland (Central Europe), airborne Alternaria spore concentrations peak between July and August. In this study, we test the hypothesis that the PP is the source of Alternaria spores recorded in Poland after the main sporulation season (September-October). Airborne Alternaria spores (2005-2019) were collected using volumetric Hirst spore traps located in 38 locations along the potential pathways of air masses, i.e. from Serbia, Romania and Hungary, through the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Ukraine, to Northern Poland. Three potential episodes of Long Distance Transport (LDT) were selected and characterized in detail, including the analysis of Alternaria spore data, back trajectory analysis, dispersal modelling, and description of local weather and mesoscale synoptic conditions. During selected episodes, increases in Alternaria spore concentrations in Poznan were recorded at unusual times that deviated from the typical diurnal pattern, i.e. at night or during morning hours. Alternaria spore concentrations on the PP were very high (>1000 spores/m3) at that time. The presence of non-local Ambrosia pollen, common to the PP, were also observed in the air. Air mass trajectory analysis and dispersal modelling showed that the northwest part of the PP, north of the Transdanubian Mountains, was the potential source area of Alternaria spores. Our results show that Alternaria spores are transported over long distances from the PP to Poland. These spores may markedly increase local exposure to Alternaria spores in the receptor area and pose a risk to both human and plant health. Alternaria spores followed the same atmospheric route as previously described LDT ragweed pollen, revealing the existence of an atmospheric super highway that transports bioaerosols from the south to the north of Europe.

The impact of data assimilation into the meteorological WRF model on birch pollen modelling.

We analyse the impact of ground-based data assimilation to the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) meteorological model on parameters relevant for birch pollen emission calculations. Then, we use two different emission databases (BASE - no data assimilation, OBSNUD - data assimilation for the meteorological model) in the chemical transport model and evaluate birch pollen concentrations. Finally, we apply a scaling factor for the emissions (BASE and OBSNUD), based on the ratio between simulated and observed seasonal pollen integral (SPIn) to analyse its impact on birch concentrations over Central Europe. Assimilation of observational data significantly reduces model overestimation of air temperature, which is the main parameter responsible for the start of pollen emission and amount of released pollen. The results also show that a relatively small bias in air temperature from the model can lead to significant differences in heating degree days (HDD) value. This may cause the HDD threshold to be attained several days earlier/later than indicated from observational data which has further impact on the start of pollen emission. Even though the bias for air temperature was reduced for OBSNUD, the model indicates a start for the birch pollen season that is too early compared to observations. The start date of the season was improved at two of the 11 stations in Poland. Data assimilation does not have a significant impact on the season's end or SPIn value. The application of the SPIn factor for the emissions results in a much closer birch pollen concentration level to observations even though the factor does not improve the start or end of the pollen season. The post-processing of modelled meteorological fields, such as the application of bias correction, can be considered as a way to further improve the pollen emission modelling.

Non-IgE Mediated Hypersensitivity to Food Products or Food Intolerance-Problems of Appropriate Diagnostics.

The diagnosis of food intolerance is tricky due to the different etiologies of adverse reactions. There is also a lack of clear rules for interpreting alternative tests used to diagnose these problems. The analyses of IgG4 concentration in serum or cytotoxic tests became the basis of elimination diets. However, it can result in nutritional deficiencies and loss of tolerance to eliminated foods. Our study aimed to assess the necessity of food elimination in four cases with food intolerance symptoms based on alternative diagnostic tests. Four patients without food allergies, who manifested diverse clinical symptoms after food, were presented due to the following factors: clinical history, diagnostic tests, elimination diet, and filaggrin gene (FLG) mutation. It was found that higher IgG4 levels against foods and higher cytotoxic test values are not clinically relevant in each of the studied individuals. They should not be decisive for the elimination of food products. The study of FLG-SNVs revealed the association of some clinical symptoms in patients with hypersensitivity to several food allergens and reported genetic variants in the FLG gene.

Changes in qualitative and quantitative traits of birch (Betula pendula) pollen allergenic proteins in relation to the pollution contamination.

Birch (Betula pendula) pollen causes inhalant allergy in about 20% of human population in Europe, most of which is sensitive to the main birch allergen, Bet v1. The aim of the study was to find out (i) whether and how the analysed birch individuals differ in regard to composition of individual subunits of pollen proteins and to protein content in these subunits; (ii) whether the level of particulate matter relates to concentration of Bet v1 allergen. Study was performed in Southern Poland, in 2017-2019. Pollen material was collected at 20 sites, of highly or less polluted areas. Protein composition was analysed by SDS-PAGE, while the concentration of Bet v1 was evaluated by ELISA. The obtained results were estimated at the background of the particulate matter (PM10) level and the birch pollen seasons in Kraków. The electrophoregrams of pollen samples collected at different sites showed huge differences in staining intensities of individual protein subunits, also among important birch allergens: Bet v1, Bet v2, Bet v6 and Bet v7. The level of Bet v1 was significantly higher in the pollen samples collected at the more polluted sites. While the birch pollen allergenic potential is determined, the both pollen exposure and the content of the main allergenic components should be considered, as factors causing immunological response and clinical symptoms manifestation in sensitive individuals.

Extension of WRF-Chem for birch pollen modelling-a case study for Poland.

In recent years, allergies due to airborne pollen allergens have shown an increasing trend, along with the severity of allergic symptoms in most industrialized countries, while synergism with other common atmospheric pollutants has also been identified as affecting the overall quality of citizenly life. In this study, we propose the state-of-the-art WRF-Chem model, which is a complex Eulerian meteorological model integrated on-line with atmospheric chemistry. We used a combination of the WRF-Chem extended towards birch pollen, and the emission module based on heating degree days, which has not been tested before. The simulations were run for the moderate season in terms of birch pollen concentrations (year 2015) and high season (year 2016) over Central Europe, which were validated against 11 observational stations located in Poland. The results show that there is a big difference in the model's performance for the two modelled years. In general, the model overestimates birch pollen concentrations for the moderate season and highly underestimates birch pollen concentrations for the year 2016. The model was able to predict birch pollen concentrations for first allergy symptoms (above 20 pollen m-3) as well as for severe symptoms (above 90 pollen m-3) with probability of detection at 0.78 and 0.68 and success ratio at 0.75 and 0.57, respectively for the year 2015. However, the model failed to reproduce these parameters for the year 2016. The results indicate the potential role of correcting the total seasonal pollen emission in improving the model's performance, especially for specific years in terms of pollen productivity. The application of chemical transport models such as WRF-Chem for pollen modelling provides a great opportunity for simultaneous simulations of chemical air pollution and allergic pollen with one goal, which is a step forward for studying and understanding the co-exposure of these particles in the air.

High Ambrosia pollen concentrations in Poland respecting the long distance transport (LDT).

High Ambrosia pollen concentrations in Poland rather rarely come from the local sources. The aim of this study was to define the temporal and spatial differences of the high Ambrosia pollen concentrations by creating models for the pollen transport from the distant sources. This study was thought to determine the direction of the air masses inflow into Poland, carrying Ambrosia pollen, from areas of the bordering countries with the pollen concentrations higher than iSTOTEN_n Poland. Pollen and meteorological datasets at 8 monitoring sites in Poland, and daily pollen concentrations at 11 sites in the Czech Republic, 5 sites in Slovakia and 3 sites in Ukraine were analysed recently. Days with concentrations ≥10 Pollen/m3 and concurrent meteorological situations were analysed in great deal. The HYSPLIT model was applied to compute backward trajectories up to 4 days backward (96 h) and at three altitudes: 20, 500 and 1000 m above ground level (a.g.l.). High pollen concentrations occur most frequently when the air masses inflow into Poland from southerly (S, SE, SW, 44%) and easterly (E, 6%) directions and in no advection situations (25%). In years with the highest frequency of days over 10 Pollen/m3, the prevailing directions of the pollen influx into Poland were from the South (2004-2006, 2008, 2011) but in one year (2014) from the East. Trajectories for the studied period show that air masses come most frequently from Slovakia and the Czech Republic. Sometimes, the Ambrosia pollen transport happens from Ukraine.

Bradykinin and oxidative stress in patients with hereditary angioedema due to C1 inhibitor deficiency.

INTRODUCTION: Hereditary angioedema (HAE) is a rare autosomal dominant disease caused by genetic dysfunction of C1 inhibitor (C1-INH) due to mutations in the SERPING1 gene. The disorder is mediated mainly by bradykinin. The clinical course of the disease is varied and not related to genetic changes. OBJECTIVES: We aimed to evaluate redox homeostasis of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) in patients with HAE due to C1-INH deficiency (C1 INH HAE) by measuring the levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) of PBMCs as well as plasma advanced glycation end products (AGEs) and advanced oxidation protein products (AOPPs). We also aimed to assess the effect of bradykinin on ROS levels. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We enrolled 30 adults with C1-INH-HAE and 15 healthy individuals. The levels of ROS were measured by flow cytometry, while the plasma levels of AGEs and AOPPs were determined spectrophotometrically by enzyme­ linked immunosorbent assays. RESULTS: Basal and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)-induced ROS levels were higher in patients with HAE when compared with controls (P = 0.002 and P = 0.001, respectively), indicating abnormalities in redox homeostasis. Plasma AOPP and AGE levels were similar in both groups. Bradykinin reduced basal and H2O2-induced ROS generation in PBMCs only in patients with HAE (P = 0.03). CONCLUSIONS: The higher basal and H2O2-induced ROS levels in patients with C1 INH HAE indicate redox imbalance. However, by reducing basal and H2O2-induced ROS levels, bradykinin shows antioxidant action in this disorder.

Near-ground effect of height on pollen exposure.

The effect of height on pollen concentration is not well documented and little is known about the near-ground vertical profile of airborne pollen. This is important as most measuring stations are on roofs, but patient exposure is at ground level. Our study used a big data approach to estimate the near-ground vertical profile of pollen concentrations based on a global study of paired stations located at different heights. We analyzed paired sampling stations located at different heights between 1.5 and 50 m above ground level (AGL). This provided pollen data from 59 Hirst-type volumetric traps from 25 different areas, mainly in Europe, but also covering North America and Australia, resulting in about 2,000,000 daily pollen concentrations analyzed. The daily ratio of the amounts of pollen from different heights per location was used, and the values of the lower station were divided by the higher station. The lower station of paired traps recorded more pollen than the higher trap. However, while the effect of height on pollen concentration was clear, it was also limited (average ratio 1.3, range 0.7-2.2). The standard deviation of the pollen ratio was highly variable when the lower station was located close to the ground level (below 10 m AGL). We show that pollen concentrations measured at >10 m are representative for background near-ground levels.

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). 17 locations across three continents with long-term (approximately 26 years on average) quantitative records of seasonal concentrations of multiple pollen (aeroallergen) taxa met the selection criteria. These datasets were analysed in the context of recent annual changes in maximum temperature (Tmax) and minimum temperature (Tmin) associated with anthropogenic climate change. Seasonal regressions (slopes) of variation in pollen load and pollen season duration over time were compared to Tmax, cumulative degree day Tmax, Tmin, cumulative degree day Tmin, and frost-free days among all 17 locations to ascertain significant correlations. FINDINGS: 12 (71%) of the 17 locations showed significant increases in seasonal cumulative pollen or annual pollen load. Similarly, 11 (65%) of the 17 locations showed a significant increase in pollen season duration over time, increasing, on average, 0·9 days per year. Across the northern hemisphere locations analysed, annual cumulative increases in Tmax over time were significantly associated with percentage increases in seasonal pollen load (r=0·52, p=0·034) as were annual cumulative increases in Tmin (r=0·61, p=0·010). Similar results were observed for pollen season duration, but only for cumulative degree days (higher than the freezing point [0°C or 32°F]) for Tmax (r=0·53, p=0·030) and Tmin (r=0·48, p=0·05). Additionally, temporal increases in frost-free days per year were significantly correlated with increases in both pollen load (r=0·62, p=0·008) and pollen season duration (r=0·68, p=0·003) when averaged for all 17 locations. INTERPRETATION: Our findings reveal that the ongoing increase in temperature extremes (Tmin and Tmax) might already be contributing to extended seasonal duration and increased pollen load for multiple aeroallergenic pollen taxa in diverse locations across the northern hemisphere. This study, done across multiple continents, highlights an important link between ongoing global warming and public health-one that could be exacerbated as temperatures continue to increase. FUNDING: None.

A study on the spatial and temporal variability in airborne Betula pollen concentration in five cities in Poland using multivariate analyses.

During the spring period, Betula pollen is the main cause of inhalant allergies in Poland and therefore it is important to monitor and forecast airborne pollen concentrations of this taxon. This study conducted a comparative analysis of the basic characteristics of Betula pollen seasons at the regional scale. The study was carried out from 2001 to 2016 in five cities in Poland: Lublin, Warsaw, Cracow, Sosnowiec, and Szczecin. To find the attributes of birch pollen seasons that mostly differentiated the individual cities, a general discriminant analysis (GDA) was performed, while a principal component analysis (PCA) allowed us to reduce the data space and present a scatterplot of PCA scores in order to compare pollen seasons in the individual cities. The contingency table was also analyzed to check whether there was a significant relationship between pollen counts in the studied years and cities. At most of the sites, biennial cycles of low and high pollen concentrations can be observed. Due to the high variation in seasons in each of these cities, two data groups were distinguished: Group 1 was composed of seasons with high pollen deposition (2001, 2003, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016), and Group 2 comprising the other seasons. Multivariate analyses were performed on both these groups as well as in the entire dataset. End98, Peak Value, and Annual Total had the highest discriminant power. In Group 1, Warsaw and Sosnowiec differed the most in the investigated parameters, while Cracow and Szczecin differed the least. In both groups, most seasons with the highest pollen birch concentration were observed in Lublin, followed by Warsaw, while in Cracow, the number of such seasons was the smallest.

Masting in wind-pollinated trees: system-specific roles of weather and pollination dynamics in driving seed production.

Masting, the highly variable production of synchronized large seed crops, is a common reproductive strategy in plant populations. In wind-pollinated trees, flowering and pollination dynamics are hypothesized to provide the mechanistic link for the well-known relationship between weather and population-level seed production. Several hypotheses make predictions about the effect of weather on annual pollination success. The pollen coupling hypothesis predicts that weather and plant resources drive the flowering effort of trees, which directly translates into the size of seed crops through efficient pollination. In contrast, the pollination Moran effect hypothesis predicts that weather affects pollination efficiency, leading to occasional bumper crops. Furthermore, the recently formulated phenology synchrony hypothesis predicts that Moran effects can arise because of weather effects on flowering synchrony, which, in turn, drives pollination efficiency. We investigated the relationship between weather, airborne pollen, and seed production in common European trees, two oak species (Quercus petraea and Q. robur) and beech (Fagus sylvatica) with a 19-yr data set from three sites in Poland. Our results show that warm summers preceding flowering correlated with high pollen abundance and warm springs resulted in short pollen seasons (i.e., high flowering synchrony) for all three species. Pollen abundance was the best predictor for seed crops in beech, as predicted under pollen coupling. In oaks, short pollen seasons, rather than pollen abundance, correlated with large seed crops, providing support for the pollination Moran effect and phenology synchrony hypotheses. Fundamentally different mechanisms may therefore drive masting in species of the family Fagacae.

The long-range transport of Pinaceae pollen: an example in Kraków (southern Poland).

High Pinaceae pollen concentrations in the air and on the surface of puddles before the main pollen season started were observed in Kraków (southern Poland) in May 2013. The paper presents the results of detailed studies of the composition and source of the "yellow rain" in 2013, and as a comparison, the Pinaceae pollen concentrations and samples collected from the ground surface in 2014 were considered. The air samples were collected using the volumetric method (Hirst-type device), while pollen grains sampled from the ground surface were processed using a modified Erdtman acetolysis method. Finally, all samples were studied using a light microscope. In 2013, the period of higher Abies, Picea and Pinus pollen concentrations was observed from the 5 to 12 of May, earlier than the main pollen season occurred. The presence of rainfall on the 12 and 13 of May 2013 caused the pollen deposition on the ground surface, where the prevalence of Pinaceae pollen was found. The synoptic situation and the analysis of the back-trajectories and air mass advection at the beginning of May 2013 indicated that Pinaceae pollen grains could have been transported from Ukraine, Romania, Hungary and Slovakia. In contrast, Pinaceae pollen grains deposited on the ground surface as a "yellow" film in May 2014, originated from local sources.

Co-occurrence of Artemisia and Ambrosia pollen seasons against the background of the synoptic situations in Poland.

The Asteraceae family is one of the largest families, comprising 67 genera and 264 species in Poland. However, only a few genera, including Artemisia and Ambrosia are potential allergenic sources. The aim of the study was to estimate how often and to what degree Artemisia and Ambrosia pollen seasons co-occur intensifying human health risk, and how synoptic situations influence frequency of days with high pollen concentrations of both taxa. Artemisia and Ambrosia pollen data were collected, using the volumetric method, at 8 sites in Poland. Daily concentrations of Artemisia pollen equal to 30 grains or more and Ambrosia pollen equal to 10 grains or more were accepted as high values. Concentrations of more than 10 pollen grains were defined as high in the case of Ambrosia because its allergenicity is considered higher. High concentrations were confronted with synoptic situations. Analysis was performed on the basis of two calendars on circulation types of atmosphere in Poland (Niedzwiedz, 2006, 2015). Co-occurrence of Artemisia and Ambrosia pollen seasons is being found most often, when Ambrosia pollen season starts in the first half of August. If it happens in the last 10 days of August high pollen concentrations of Artemisia and Ambrosia do not occur at the same days. At three sites (Sosnowiec, Rzeszów, Lublin) high Ambrosia pollen concentrations during the Artemisia pollen season appear more often than in other sites under question. The high Artemisia pollen concentrations occur, when continental or polar maritime old air masses inflow into Poland. The impact of air masses on high Ambrosia pollen concentrations depends on site localizations. It is likely, that in the south-eastern part of Poland high Ambrosia pollen concentrations result from the pollen transport from east-south-south-westerly directions and the local sources. Co-occurrence of both taxa pollen seasons depends on the air masses inflow and appears more often in a south-eastern part of Poland.

Forecasting model of Corylus, Alnus, and Betula pollen concentration levels using spatiotemporal correlation properties of pollen count.

The aim of the study was to create and evaluate models for predicting high levels of daily pollen concentration of Corylus, Alnus, and Betula using a spatiotemporal correlation of pollen count. For each taxon, a high pollen count level was established according to the first allergy symptoms during exposure. The dataset was divided into a training set and a test set, using a stratified random split. For each taxon and city, the model was built using a random forest method. Corylus models performed poorly. However, the study revealed the possibility of predicting with substantial accuracy the occurrence of days with high pollen concentrations of Alnus and Betula using past pollen count data from monitoring sites. These results can be used for building (1) simpler models, which require data only from aerobiological monitoring sites, and (2) combined meteorological and aerobiological models for predicting high levels of pollen concentration.

A 10-year study of Alternaria and Cladosporium in two Polish cities (Szczecin and Cracow) and relationship with the meteorological parameters.

Alternaria and Cladosporium spores belong to the most frequent and allergenic particles in bioaerosol in the temperate climate. The investigation of Alternaria and Cladosporium spore concentrations was performed in two cities in Poland, Szczecin and Cracow, in 2004-2013. The meteorological parameters taken to assess their impact on fungal spores were average, maximum and minimum temperature, relative humidity and average wind velocity. In order to reveal whether changes in dynamics of spore seasons are driven by meteorological conditions, ordination methods were applied. Canonical correspondence analysis was used to explore redundancy among the predictors (meteorological parameters). Prior to ordination analyses, the data were log(x)-transformed. Concentrations of Alternaria and Cladosporium spores were significantly higher in Szczecin comparing to Cracow, but it was also observed the decreasing trend in the spore concentrations in Szczecin. As regards temperature, it was higher in Cracow and was still increasing in the studied years. Relative humidity and wind velocity were significantly lower in Cracow. In Szczecin meteorological conditions did not explain changes in spore season characteristics (insignificant redundancy analysis models), while in Cracow's redundancy analysis models indicated that spore season parameters were in over 40 % determined by meteorological conditions, mainly air temperature and wind velocity. If they increase, the peak value, total number of spores and their average concentrations in a season will also increase.

[Clinical symptoms of the allergic rhinitis and coexisting cross reactions in patients treated with the birch and/or grasses allergens against a background of the pollen exposure].

During specific immunotherapy (SIT) it is recommended to monitor the patient symptoms in relation to the exposure of allergen which the patient is treated. The aim of the study was to analyze the clinical symptoms of allergic rhinitis (AR) and cross reactivity in patients undergoing specific immunotherapy using pollen allergens (SIT) (birch and/or grasses) against the pollen exposure in 2014-2016. The study group, consisted of patients with pollen allergy, treated by SIT with birch and grasses allergens, who showed oral allergy symptoms. Patients of the control group were sensitive to birch and/or grasses allergens and they were not treated with SIT. The analyses were based on the results of questionnaires and patient symptom diaries. Timing of the pollen seasons of birch and grasses were similar, however the significantly higher concentration of birch pollen was found in 2014 and 2016, comparing to 2015. The strongest relationship between the pollen concentration and symptoms severity was revealed in the study group in patients desensitized by combined vaccine (birch/grasses), while in the control group, in patients sensitive to both taxa. In 35.3% of patients in the study group, a significant decrease in symptoms after foods was found, especially in patients desensitized with mixed vaccine (birch, grasses) after consumption of vegetables and in patients desensitized with grasses allergens after the fruits and nuts. SIT has a significant impact on the symptoms score reduction, which could be modified by the changeable seasonal pollen exposure.