BACKGROUND: Pollen grains with a diameter of more than 10 μm preferentially deposit in the upper airways. Their contribution to lower airway inflammation is unclear. One hypothesis is that lower airway inflammation is mainly caused by allergen containing pollen starch granules, which are released from the pollen grains and can easily enter the peripheral airways because of their smaller size. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the differential effect of pollen grains and pollen starch granules on nasal symptoms and lower airway inflammation. METHODS: In a 2-period crossover design, 30 patients with allergic rhinitis and mild intermittent asthma underwent 2 allergen challenges on consecutive days in an environmental challenge chamber with either a mixture of pollen grains plus starch granules or starch granules only. End points were the total nasal symptom score (TNSS), nasal secretion weight, nasal flow, spirometry, and exhaled nitric oxide (eNO). RESULTS: The presence of pollen grains had a significant and considerable effect on increase in TNSS and secretion weight and on decrease in nasal flow. Starch granules alone only had minimal effects on nasal symptoms. Challenges with starch granules significantly increased eNO. Pollen had no effect on eNO. CONCLUSION: Pollen grains cause nasal symptoms but do not augment lower airway inflammation, whereas starch granules trigger lower airway inflammation but hardly induce nasal symptoms.
RCT Entities:
BACKGROUND: Pollen grains with a diameter of more than 10 μm preferentially deposit in the upper airways. Their contribution to lower airway inflammation is unclear. One hypothesis is that lower airway inflammation is mainly caused by allergen containing pollen starch granules, which are released from the pollen grains and can easily enter the peripheral airways because of their smaller size. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the differential effect of pollen grains and pollen starch granules on nasal symptoms and lower airway inflammation. METHODS: In a 2-period crossover design, 30 patients with allergic rhinitis and mild intermittent asthma underwent 2 allergen challenges on consecutive days in an environmental challenge chamber with either a mixture of pollen grains plus starch granules or starch granules only. End points were the total nasal symptom score (TNSS), nasal secretion weight, nasal flow, spirometry, and exhaled nitric oxide (eNO). RESULTS: The presence of pollen grains had a significant and considerable effect on increase in TNSS and secretion weight and on decrease in nasal flow. Starch granules alone only had minimal effects on nasal symptoms. Challenges with starch granules significantly increased eNO. Pollen had no effect on eNO. CONCLUSION: Pollen grains cause nasal symptoms but do not augment lower airway inflammation, whereas starch granules trigger lower airway inflammation but hardly induce nasal symptoms.
Authors: Sarah K Wise; Sandra Y Lin; Elina Toskala; Richard R Orlandi; Cezmi A Akdis; Jeremiah A Alt; Antoine Azar; Fuad M Baroody; Claus Bachert; G Walter Canonica; Thomas Chacko; Cemal Cingi; Giorgio Ciprandi; Jacquelynne Corey; Linda S Cox; Peter Socrates Creticos; Adnan Custovic; Cecelia Damask; Adam DeConde; John M DelGaudio; Charles S Ebert; Jean Anderson Eloy; Carrie E Flanagan; Wytske J Fokkens; Christine Franzese; Jan Gosepath; Ashleigh Halderman; Robert G Hamilton; Hans Jürgen Hoffman; Jens M Hohlfeld; Steven M Houser; Peter H Hwang; Cristoforo Incorvaia; Deborah Jarvis; Ayesha N Khalid; Maritta Kilpeläinen; Todd T Kingdom; Helene Krouse; Desiree Larenas-Linnemann; Adrienne M Laury; Stella E Lee; Joshua M Levy; Amber U Luong; Bradley F Marple; Edward D McCoul; K Christopher McMains; Erik Melén; James W Mims; Gianna Moscato; Joaquim Mullol; Harold S Nelson; Monica Patadia; Ruby Pawankar; Oliver Pfaar; Michael P Platt; William Reisacher; Carmen Rondón; Luke Rudmik; Matthew Ryan; Joaquin Sastre; Rodney J Schlosser; Russell A Settipane; Hemant P Sharma; Aziz Sheikh; Timothy L Smith; Pongsakorn Tantilipikorn; Jody R Tversky; Maria C Veling; De Yun Wang; Marit Westman; Magnus Wickman; Mark Zacharek Journal: Int Forum Allergy Rhinol Date: 2018-02 Impact factor: 3.858
Authors: Agnieszka Lipiec; Adam Sybilski; Jarosław Komorowski; Konrad Furmańczyk; Andrzej Namysłowski; Wojciech Zieliński; Filip Raciborski; Artur Z Białoszewski; Bolesław Samoliński Journal: Postepy Dermatol Alergol Date: 2019-04-09 Impact factor: 1.837