Prevalence of allergen-specific immunoglobulin E against birch, alder, hazel and oak among 8254 patients from different regions of Poland
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Abstract
Introduction: Birch, alder, hazel and oak belonging to the family Fagaceae, Fagales order, constitute common tree allergens causing various allergic diseases. Depending on a geographic region, differences in temperature, air pollution and degree of urbanization, they are likely to be allergenic to a different extent. Also, they may cause polyvalent sensitization due to common components causing cross reactions. Identification of allergen-specific IgE (asIgE) is a common element of the detection scheme for the diagnosis of allergic diseases in Poland.
Aim: The aim of this paper was to compare the prevalence and concentration (per class) of allergen-specific IgE antibodies against birch, alder, hazel and oak pollen in relation to age, sex and region in which people live, as well as to analyze the co-occurrence of positive results for pollen of particular trees.
Material and methods: The analysis covered 8254 results for specific IgE against birch, alder, hazel and oak in individuals suspected of allergic disease. Children accounted for 60% of all patients. IgE were identified using Polycheck® multi-parameter quantitative screening (Biocheck GmbH, Münster, Germany). The level of specific IgE regarded as positive was calculated in two variants > 0.35 kU/l (from class 1) and > 0.7 kU/l (from class 2).
Results: The largest percentage of positive results was found for allergen-specific IgE against birch pollen (21.4%), whereas the smallest against oak pollen (13.1%). As regards alder, 20.8% of positive results, whereas for hazel 20.7% (in the variant above class 1) were found. In the variant in which positive result was adopted from class 2 asIgE, 16.1% of positive results were found for birch, for hazel – 13.9%, for alder – 13% and for oak – 8.7%. Conclusions: The highest number of positive results was found for birch pollen, the smallest for oak pollen. Statistically significant relationships between age and class level for particular trees (p < 0.001) were confirmed. Male recorded positive results for all analysed allergens more frequently than female. Adult recorded positive results twice more often than children for all analysed pollen types. The largest percentage of positive results was recorded in Lubuskie voivodeship, whereas the smallest in Lubelskie province. A relationship between all analysed types of tree pollen, the strongest between birch and alder, was observed.
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Copyright: © Medical Education sp. z o.o. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0). License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), allowing third parties to copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format and to remix, transform, and build upon the material, provided the original work is properly cited and states its license.
Address reprint requests to: Medical Education, Marcin Kuźma (marcin.kuzma@mededu.pl)
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