Do we need aerobiological air monitoring in desert climates? The Qatar experience.

Knowledge about diurnal, seasonal, and annual fluctuations in airborne pollen and fungal spores in any geographical area is essential for effective diagnosis and treatment of allergies. Aerobiological analysis enables the detection of airborne pollen and spores, thus providing information on plant phenology, plant distribution, related diseases, and the risks for some species in terms of allergies. Although pollen and fungal spores have been widely studied as aeroallergens throughout the world, not much is known about the biological aerosols in countries with a desert environment; and these could be present in much higher concentrations than expected. Arid desert regions (including the region surrounding the Arab Gulf), characterized by hot weather, poor soils, and low biological productivity, have typically been neglected when building ambitious biomonitoring networks for the large-scale monitoring of biological particles; however, few studies in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and recently Qatar have aimed to delineate the various botanical families that contribute to inhalant allergens in this region. Understanding the aerobiological features of countries with hot and desert climates may better prepare healthcare providers to assist patients with allergic rhinitis. It may be argued that one of the reasons why aerobiologists have only recently turned their attention to the state of Qatar investigating how pollen and fungal spore records could contribute to evaluating the correlation between different pollen conditions and allergy symptoms. The first aerobiological network of Qatar was monitoring (2017-2020) the atmospheric pollen concentrations of Doha and Al Khor to determine the association between the possible risk of respiratory allergies and the distribution of certain species throughout the region. In the Qatari database, more than 25 native taxa have been recorded, up to 50% of which can be considered allergenic. This includes Amaranthaceae and Poaceae pollen among the major aeroallergens causing allergy symptoms in Qatar. Our study has confirmed a statistically significant association between Amaranthaceae and asthma and allergic rhinitis. To summarize, it is worth considering aerobiological monitoring in desert climate regions when assessing the effectiveness of pollen allergy therapy and planning prevention methods for patients.

[Short history of laboratory diagnostics of allergy in Hungary, current possibilities and future perspectives]. / Az allergia laboratóriumi diagnosztikájának rövid hazai története, a jelen lehetoségei és a jövo perspektívája.

Up to know the indications for the optimal applications of laboratory diagnosis of allergic diseases have become widely known. Measurements of allergy specific IgE and various tests of cell mediated immunity are included in the practice. It can be stated that measurements of total serum IgE and allergen specific IgE (kU/l and RAST classes) can be maintained further in the Hungarian practice with the expected continuous participation of all laboratories in the external quality control program (QualiCont). However, it is also apparent that regional introduction of the urgent "molecular (component) based allergy diagnostics" has become necessary for efficient allergen specific immunotherapy in Hungary. In cases of the allergen specific cell mediated immunologic reactions, allergen induced cell proliferation and cytokine release measurements are recommended. However, it is also obvious that application of these measurements in clinical practice need correct financial support from health care authorities.

IgE Epitope Profiling for Allergy Diagnosis and Therapy - Parallel Analysis of a Multitude of Potential Linear Epitopes Using a High Throughput Screening Platform.

Immunoglobulin E (IgE) is pivotal for manifestation and persistence of most immediate-type allergies and some asthma phenotypes. Consequently, IgE represents a crucial target for both, diagnostic purposes as well as therapeutic approaches. In fact, allergen-specific immunotherapy - aiming to re-route an IgE-based inflammatory response into an innocuous immune reaction against the allergen - is the only curative approach for IgE-mediated allergic diseases known so far. However, this requires the cognate allergen to be known. Unfortunately, even in well-characterized allergics or asthmatics, often just a small fraction of total IgE can be assigned to specific target allergens. To overcome this knowledge gap, we have devised an analytical platform for unbiased IgE target epitope detection. The system relies on chemically produced random peptide libraries immobilized on polystyrene beads ("one-bead-one-compound (OBOC) libraries") capable to present millions of different peptide motifs simultaneously to immunoglobulins from biological samples. Beads binding IgE are highlighted with a fluorophore-labeled anti-IgE antibody allowing fluorescence-based detection and isolation of positives, which then can be characterized by peptide sequencing. Setting-up this platform required an elaborate optimization process including proper choice of background suppressants, secondary antibody and fluorophore label as well as incubation conditions. For optimal performance our procedure involves a sophisticated pre-adsorption step to eliminate beads that react nonspecifically with anti-IgE secondary antibodies. This step turned out to be important for minimizing detection of "false positive" motifs that otherwise would erroneously be classified as IgE epitopes. In validation studies we were able to retrieve artificial test-peptide beads spiked into our library by using IgE directed against those test-peptides at physiological concentrations (≤20 IU/ml of specific IgE), and disease-relevant bead-bound epitopes of the major peanut allergen Ara h 2 by screening with sera from peanut allergics. Thus, we established a platform with which one can find and validate new immunoglobulin targets using patient material which displays a largely unknown immunoglobulin repertoire.