Survey of airborne pollen in Hubei province of China.

OBJECTIVE: To study the genera and seasonal distribution of airborne pollen in Hubei province of China, and its relationship with pollinosis. METHODS: From November 2003 to October 2004, an airborne pollen investigation was performed in 16 chosen areas in 12 cities of Hubei province using gravity sedimentation technique. Meanwhile, univalent skin prick tests of pollens were performed and the invasion season was studied on 2,300 patients with pollinosis. Among them, 352 cases underwent the airway responsiveness measurements, and the correlation between airway responsiveness and results of pollen count was analyzed. RESULTS: A total of 61 pollen genera were observed and 257,520 pollens were collected. The peak of airborne pollen distribution occurred in two seasons each year: spring (March and April) and autumn (from August to October). The attack of pollinosis corresponded to the peak of pollen distribution. There was a significantly negative relationship between the provocation dose causing a 20% decrease of forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) from baseline and airborne pollen concentration (r= -0.6829, P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: This study provides useful information for airborne pollen epidemiology of Hubei province, and it provides important insights to clinical prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of pollen-related allergic diseases.

Single-allergen sublingual immunotherapy versus multi-allergen subcutaneous immunotherapy for children with allergic rhinitis.

It has always been controversial whether a single allergen performs better than multiple allergens in polysensitized patients during the allergen-specific immunotherapy. This study aimed to examine the clinical efficacy of single-allergen sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT) versus multi-allergen subcutaneous immunotherapy (SCIT) and to discover the change of the biomarker IL-4 after 1-year immunotherapy in polysensitized children aged 6-13 years with allergic rhinitis (AR) induced by house dust mites (HDMs). The AR polysensitized children (n=78) were randomly divided into two groups: SLIT group and SCIT group. Patients in the SLIT group sublingually received a single HDM extract and those in the SCIT group were subcutaneously given multiple-allergen extracts (HDM in combination with other clinically relevant allergen extracts). Before and 1 year after the allergen-specific immunotherapy (ASIT), the total nasal symptom scores (TNSS), total medication scores (TMS) and IL-4 levels in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were compared respectively between the two groups. The results showed that the TNSS were greatly improved, and the TMS and IL-4 levels were significantly decreased after 1-year ASIT in both groups (SLIT group: P<0.001; SCIT group: P<0.001). There were no significant differences in any outcome measures between the two groups (for TNSS: P>0.05; for TMS: P>0.05; for IL-4 levels: P>0.05). It was concluded that the clinical efficacy of single-allergen SLIT is comparable with that of multi-allergen SCIT in 6-13-year-old children with HDM-induced AR.

Single-allergen Sublingual Immunotherapy versus Multi-allergen Subcutaneous Immunotherapy for Children with Allergic Rhinitis / 华中科技大学学报（医学）（英德文版）

It has always been controversial whether a single allergen performs better than multiple allergens in polysensitized patients during the allergen-specific immunotherapy.This study aimed to examine the clinical efficacy of single-allergen sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT) versus multi-allergen subcutaneous immunotherapy (SCIT) and to discover the change of the biomarker IL-4 after 1-year immunotherapy in polysensitized children aged 6-13 years with allergic rhinitis (AR) induced by house dust mites (HDMs).The AR polysensitized children (n=78) were randomly divided into two groups:SLIT group and SCIT group.Patients in the SLIT group sublingually received a single HDM extract and those in the SCIT group were subcutaneously given multiple-allergen extracts (HDM in combination with other clinically relevant allergen extracts).Before and 1 year after the allergen-specific immunotherapy (ASIT),the total nasal symptom scores (TNSS),total medication scores (TMS) and IL-4 levels in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were compared respectively between the two groups.The results showed that the TNSS were greatly improved,and the TMS and IL-4 levels were significantly decreased after 1-year ASIT in both groups (SLIT group:P＜0.001;SCIT group:P＜0.001).There were no significant differences in any outcome measures between the two groups (for TNSS:P＞0.05;for TMS:P＞0.05;for IL-4 levels:P＞0.05).It was concluded that the clinical efficacy of single-allergen SLIT is comparable with that of multi-allergen SCIT in 6-13-year-old children with HDM-induced AR.