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Biomedical subjects

J Subiza

Publications and source records attributed to J Subiza.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2004

Living in towers as risk factor of pollen allergy.

BACKGROUND: The effects of fluctuations in pollen counts have important implications for health services. Little research on the clinical implications of the vertical distribution of pollen in allergy symptoms has been carried out. METHODS: We have investigated the allergic symptoms of a population of 17 171 patients coming from our health area (Valladolid, Spain) and living in the city and villages. We compared the prevalence of sensitization to different pollens: Graminae, trees and shrub in relation with the floor of the building where they were living. RESULTS: Relative risk of pollen sensitization (confidence index, CI 95%) was higher in patients who were living at high floors than in those patients who were living in lower floors or at street level, independently of rural or urban conditions The chi-square showed a lineal trend in this relationship in the case of sensitization to grass pollen: chi(2): 1794, P > 0.00001 CONCLUSIONS: On the basis of our local investigations, natural pollen sensitization appears to increase with height where the patient lives. This paper reports clinical results on the influence of vertical pollen distribution in pollen allergy.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

Trisetum paniceum (wild oats) pollen counts and aeroallergens in the ambient air of Madrid, Spain.

BACKGROUND: Madrid has a short but intensive grass pollen season, in which 79% of the total grass pollen load is released from the middle of May to the middle of June. The main objectives of this study were to quantify Trisetum paniceum (wild oats) aeroallergen in the atmosphere in Madrid from February to December 1996 and to correlate the aeroallergen concentrations with grass pollen counts. METHODS: Two different samplers were used to assess allergen exposure; a Burkard spore trap was used to collect pollen grains and a high-volume air sampler to collect airborne particles. A total of 182 air filters were collected and extracted in 1 ml of PBS and analysed by ELISA inhibition, using pooled sera from highly allergic individuals. RESULTS: T. paniceum aeroallergens were detected not only during the grass pollen season, but also before and after. Wild oat allergens had two main peaks of 1 and 1.9 microg/m(3), occurring in late May and July, respectively. The time series analysis established the existence of lags between the two main variables pollen counts and aeroallergen activity. Analysis of the data by the Spearman rank test and linear regression showed a weak correlation between grass allergenic activity and grass pollen counts (Spearman's rho = 0.29). Data obtained from time series analysis demonstrated that grass allergenic activity correlated strongly with current and 5-week-old grass pollen grain counts (r(2) = 0.73). CONCLUSIONS: Wild oats allergenic activity was detected during the entire year and not only during the pollen season. This fact is an important aspect to be considered in the clinical follow-up and treatment of grass pollen-sensitised patients in Madrid.

Air Pollutants↗
PubMed1997

Platanus pollen as an important cause of pollinosis.

OBJECTIVE: The existence of Platanus pollinosis is not generally accepted despite the production of very large quantities of airborne Platanus pollen in many cities of the United States and Europe. The aim of this study was to investigate if Platanus pollen really contributes to the symptoms of the patients with pollinosis in the Madrid area. METHODS: We carried out systematic skin prick testing with Platanus pollen extract on 47 patients seen in our allergy center with spring-summer pollinosis symptoms. Each patient maintained symptom score diaries before, during, and after the Platanus pollination season. The average symptom scores were calculated and compared with the Platanus pollen counts. Measurements of specific IgE by ELISA and immunoblotting also were performed in each patient. RESULTS: The Platanus skin tests were positive in 33 of the 39 patients first seen with seasonal symptoms during Platanus pollen season and only in three of the eight patients without symptoms during Platanus exposure (Fisher's exact test; p < 0.05). Twenty-two of the 33 Platanus-positive skin test patients also had a positive ELISA result. Furthermore, the average 24-hour rhinitis symptom scores of the 39 patients first seen with seasonal symptoms during March through April showed significant correlation with Platanus pollen counts (r(s) = 0.57, p < 0.05). The immunoblot results suggest that a 17 kd pollen protein could be a major allergen in patients with Platanus pollinosis. CONCLUSIONS: Platanus pollen is an important cause of pollinosis in Madrid. A protein with a molecular weight of 17 kd appeared to be its major allergen.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1997

Characterization of allergens from Trisetum paniceum pollen: an important aeroallergen in Mediterranean continental climatic areas.

BACKGROUND: Trisetum paniceum is a grass plant which is characteristic of a Mediterranean continental climate and has been described as one of the major causes of type I allergy in the Madrid region. OBJECTIVES: To identify and characterize the allergens of Trisetum paniceum pollen. METHODS: Allergenic extracts were prepared by 24 h incubation of pollens in a buffered solution. Proteins were analysed by a new two-dimensional system in which agarose plates were used for isoelectric focusing. Two-dimensionally resolved proteins were electrically transferred to Immobilon membranes and the allergens immunochemically detected. Proteins from six grass pollens were bound to a membrane and incubated with a pool of serum from grass-pollen-sensitized patients. The bound IgE antibodies were then eluted and used to identify the proteins of Trisetum paniceum pollen that allergenically crossreact with allergens from other pollen grasses. RESULTS: Relative to total protein content, Trisetum paniceum pollen had a high proportion of reactive proteins. On the basis of their molecular characteristics, allergens could be classified as group 1, 2, 4 and 5 components yet included an atypical proportion of basic components. All identified allergens were crossreactive with allergens from the remaining grass pollens studied. CONCLUSIONS: Trisetum paniceum pollen contains a high proportion of allergens and these include a group of basic proteins which are not detected in other phylogenetically related pollens and could be of allergological interest.

Air Pollutants↗
PubMed1995

Allergenic pollen pollinosis in Madrid.

OBJECTIVE: A 15-year pollen count was performed in the atmosphere of Madrid, Spain, to determine the months in which the highest concentrations of allergenic pollens occur. METHODS: Pollen counts were done with a Burkard spore trap (Burkard Manufacturing, Rickmansworth, Herst., U.K.). The results were subsequently compared with results of skin tests in patients with pollinosis born and living in and around Madrid. RESULTS: The highest airborne presence (percent of total yearly pollen counts, mean of counts from 1979 to 1993) was for Quercus spp. (17%); followed by Platanus spp. (15%), Poaceae (15%), Cupressaceae (11%), Olea spp. (9%), Pinus spp. (7%), Populus spp. (4%), and Plantago spp. (4%). The most predominant pollens from January to April are tree pollens (Cupressaceae, Alnus, Fraxinus, Ulmus, Populus, Platanus, and Morus), although these are also abudant in May and June (Quercus, Olea, and Pinus spp.). The grass pollination period shows a double curve: the first peak occurs from February to April (8% of yearly grasses), and the second peak occurs from May to July (90% of yearly grasses). Among allergenically significant weeds, the most notable is Plantago; in contrast, Rumex, Urticaceae, Cheno-Amaranthaceae, and Artemisia spp. have very low concentrations (< or = 2% yearly total pollens). The most significant allergenic pollen is that of grasses, with a prevalence of positive prick test results of 94%, followed by Olea europaea (61%), Plantago lagopus (53%), Platanus hybrida (52%), and Cupressus arizonica (20%). CONCLUSION: The population of Madrid is exposed to high concentrations of allergenic pollen from February to July, although the most intense period is from May to June. Grass pollens are the most important cause of pollinosis in this area.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1994

Seasonal asthma caused by airborne Platanus pollen.

This work describes three patients suffering from bronchial asthma after being naturally exposed to airborne plane-tree pollen. The three patients gave immediate response in skin tests and dual response in bronchial provocations using Platanus hybrida extract. There was specific seric IgE activity against this/these antigen(s) with the CAP system. The three patients also showed significant correlation (P < 0.001) between their rhinitis and asthma symptom-scores registered on their diary cards and plane-tree pollen counts, collected using the Burkard spore trap. Among 187 patients living in Madrid and who came to our centre with a history of rhinitis and/or seasonal asthma, we found a prevalence of positive skin-prick tests to Platanus of 56%, only surpassed by gramineous pollen (Dactylis glomerata and/or Trisetum paniceum) 92% and Olea europaea 63%. The aerobiological sampling of the pollen content of the air in Madrid, carried out between 1 January 1979 and 31 December 1993 revealed an airborne presence (per cent of total yearly pollen count, mean of 1979-1993) of 14.9% for the Platanus, 14.8% for grasses, 9.8% for Olea and 3.6% for Plantago. The Platanus is one of the most frequently found pollens in the atmosphere over Madrid. At present, in this geographical area, a high percentage of patients with pollinosis are sensitive to this pollen. At least in some of these patients Platanus pollen is capable of inducing rhinitis and bronchial asthma.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

Bakers' asthma caused by alpha amylase.

Two bakers with bronchial asthma and two with rhinoconjunctivitis are described. Prick and RAST tests were positive with wheat flour in all of them, but the challenge test (nasal or bronchial) with wheat flour extract was positive only in one asthmatic baker. The prick test, RAST, and nasal or bronchial challenge done with alpha amylase extract (a glycolytic enzyme obtained from Aspergillus oryzae and used as a flour additive) were positive in all four patients. Our results support previous data indicating that alpha amylase used in bakeries is an important antigen that could cause respiratory allergy in bakers. It can function as sole causative allergen or in addition with other allergens used in the baking industry.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Prediction of annual variations in atmospheric concentrations of grass pollen. A method based on meteorological factors and grain crop estimates.

We performed an aerobiologic observation of the grasses present in Madrid for 14 years (1978-1991), using volumetric air samplers. The counts obtained show that the major grass pollen release period (average daily grass pollen counts greater than 50 grains/m3 of air) occurs in the months of May and June, although lower counts can occur some days from the end of January onward. There are wide year-to-year variations in total atmospheric grass pollen counts, expressed as the total sum of the mean daily concentrations from April 1st to July 30th (ranging from 2568 to 6624). A strong, statistically significant correlation, based on Spearman's rank test and/or simple and multiple linear regressions, was found between the total grass seasonal count and preseasonal rainfall from October to March (R2 = 0.64; P = 0.0429). The meteorological variable which gave the correlation with greatest statistical significance (R2 = 0.97; P = 0.0016) was the average monthly preseasonal humidity from October to March. A good correlation was also found between March estimates of wheat, rye and barley crops and the total grass count (R2 = 0.73; P = 0.006). A model was designed from the above mentioned humidity variable through a multilinear regression analysis, and it was possible to predict, at the beginning of April, total seasonal counts for 1989 (predicted = 5468; actual = 4410; average error = 24%), 1990 (5033; 6090; -17%) and 1991 (3930; 2568; 53%). These data may help clinicians to predict and prepare themselves for the intensity of the grass pollen season and to explain yearly variations in the severity of symptoms.

Agriculture↗
PubMed1991

Occupational asthma caused by Brazil ginseng dust.

The inhalation of different substances of plant origin can cause immediate and late onset asthma. The list of these agents responsible for such reactions is continuously increasing. We discuss a patient who developed symptoms of asthma after exposure to Pfaffia paniculata root powder used in the manufacturing of Brazil ginseng capsules. Airway hyperreactivity was confirmed by a positive bronchial challenge to methacholine. Sensitivity to this dust was confirmed by immediate skin test reactivity, a positive bronchial challenge (immediate response), and the presence of specific IgE detected by ELISA technique to an aqueous extract. The bronchial response was inhibited by sodium cromoglycate. Unexposed subjects did not exhibit reactivity to this ginseng extract with any of the tests referred to above. The same study performed with Korean ginseng (Panax ginseng) elicited negative results. This study is the first, to our knowledge, that links ginseng-root dust to occupational asthma.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Contact urticaria caused by Obeche wood (Triplochiton scleroxylon). Report of eight patients.

A variety of plant substances may induce contact urticaria and the list of substances responsible for such reactions is increasing. We report eight patients suffering from occupational asthma caused by Obeche wood sawdust. These patients also presented with urticaria when they worked with this wood. Studies revealed immediate positive skin test reactivity to Obeche wood extracts in all patients. The presence of specific IgE antibodies against Obeche wood could also be demonstrated by a reverse ELISA method. Finally, skin provocation tests (rubbing test) on the eight patients evoked a positive reaction within 20 minutes. These findings strongly suggest an IgE-mediated immunologic mechanism as responsible for the patients' urticaria. Obeche wood should be considered a health hazard capable of causing both bronchial asthma and contact urticaria. At the present time, this timber constitutes the most frequently commercially exported African wood. Many individuals, including carpenters and hobbyists, may come into contact with this wood due to the common use of Obeche wood in the "Do it yourself" type of shops.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Allergic conjunctivitis to chamomile tea.

Eye washing with chamomile tea is a folk remedy used by the general public to treat conjunctivitis and other ocular reactions. Chamomile is also found in many cosmetic products. Some cases of contact dermatitis (but not reactions of type I) were reported following its topical applications. We present seven hay fever patients that suffered from conjunctivitis; two of them also had lid angioedema after eye washing with chamomile tea. All seven patients had positive skin prick tests to the chamomile tea extract, Matricaria chamomilla pollen and Artemisia vulgaris pollen extracts. Positive conjunctival provocations were also observed in all the patients with the chamomile tea extract. In contrast, no symptoms were observed after oral challenges with this infusion. IgE activity against chamomile tea and Matricaria and Artemisia extracts (composite pollens) was detected by ELISA in the seven patients' sera. A cross reactivity among the above extracts was observed by an ELISA inhibition study. In all cases, the IgE activity to chamomile tea could fully be absorbed by Matricaria pollen extract. Skin prick tests and conjunctival provocation tests also performed in 100 hay fever controls revealed a positive immediate skin response to Artemisia in 15 patients, eight of them also to Matricaria pollen and five of them to Chamomile tea as well. Only two of the last patients had a positive conjunctival response. The results were negative in the rest of the controls. We conclude that the chamomile tea eye washing can induce allergic conjunctivitis. Matricaria chamomilla pollens contained in these infusions are the allergens responsible for these reactions.

Administration, Oral↗
PubMed1989

Anaphylactic reaction after the ingestion of chamomile tea: a study of cross-reactivity with other composite pollens.

We report a case of an 8-year-old atopic boy in whom ingestion of a chamomile-tea infusion precipitated a severe anaphylactic reaction. The patient suffers from hay fever and bronchial asthma caused by a variety of pollens (grass, olive, and mugwort). This severe reaction was developed after his first ingestion of chamomile tea. Studies revealed the presence of immediate skin test reactivity and a positive passive transfer test to chamomile-tea extract. Moreover, both specific antichamomile-tea extract and anti-Matricaria chamomilla-pollen extract IgE antibodies were detected by an ELISA technique. Cross-reactivity among chamomile-tea extract and the pollens of Matricaria chamomilla, Ambrosia trifida (giant ragweed), and Artemisia vulgaris (mugwort), was demonstrated by an ELISA-inhibition study. These findings suggest a type I IgE-mediated immunologic mechanism as being responsible for the patient's anaphylactic symptoms and also suggest that the patient cross-reacted the pollens of Matricaria chamomilla contained in the chamomile tea because he was previously sensitized to Artemisia pollen.

Anaphylaxis↗
PubMed1988

Severe anaphylactoid reaction to nalidixic acid.

We present the case of a 58-year-old non-atopic woman who suffered an adverse reaction to orally administered nalidixic acid, which had been prescribed for the treatment of a urinary tract infection. The single-blind oral provocation test was positive; the patient presented the clinical features of an anaphylactoid reaction 3 min after administration of nalidixic acid. Both the skin test and the histamine release test were negative. These results suggest that we are dealing with an anaphylactoid reaction not described before with this drug.

Anaphylaxis↗