• Asian Journal of Atmospheric Environment
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.65-71
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• 2013

Japanese cedar (Cryptomeria japonica) pollinosis is the most popular pollinosis in Japan. It has been reported that Cryptomeria japonica pollen allergenic species are suspended as fine particles in the urban atmosphere. These allergenic fine particles are responsible for inducing asthma by breaking into the lower respiratory tract. It has also been found that pollinosis symptoms on the sufferers appear mainly at night-time by the results from epidemiological studies. However, the exact reason for these phenomena is not yet clarified. In this study, the diurnal and nocturnal behaviours of Cryptomeria japonica pollen grains and their allergenic species in the urban area of Saitama city of Kanto Plain were investigated. Airborne pollen grains and allergenic Cry j 1 concentrations in total suspended particulate matter (TSP) were investigated at two sampling sites, a heavy traffic road (roadside site) and at the balcony of the $10^{th}$ floor of the Building of Research and Project of Saitama University (general urban site). The latter sampling site where located about 300 m away from the roadside site was used as a general urban site unaffected by automobile traffic. The airborne pollen counts were measured with a real-time pollen monitor. Cry j 1 particles were collected with two high volume air samplers, and these concentrations were measured by surface plasmon resonance method with a Biacore J system. The diurnal variation of the airborne pollen counts was similar to the trends of temperature and wind speed during the day-time; whereas its tendency with wind speed trend was not observed during the night-time. Airborne pollen counts were lower with northern wind than with southern wind because the pollen comes from the mountainous areas, and the mountains in the south are closer, about half the distance to the northern mountains. It is suggested that the peaks of airborne pollen counts during night-time in the sampling site occurred by transport of pollen grains released during day-time in the mountainous forest areas, located c.a. 100 km away from the sampling site. On the roadside site the allergenic Cry j 1 concentrations were higher than at the general urban site, nevertheless pollen grains counts were lower. These results suggested that worsening of pollinosis symptoms during night-time in urban area was caused by transport of pollen grains during day-time in the mountainous forest areas. Moreover, pollen allergenic species become different morphology from pollen grain at roadside site, and the subsequent pollen grains re-suspension by automobile traffic.

• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.155-161
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• 1977

Pollinosis usually caused by the airborne pollen grains, is an allergical disease which causes snivel and sneeze. The author has studied on airborne pollen grains collected at Chong-ro district in Seoul about 15m from April 1975 to March 1976. The obtained grains were 4 spp. of Gymnospermae, 19 spp. of Dicotyledoneae and 10 spp. of Monocotyledoneae. The tree season ranged from March to June, Alnus, Pinus and Acer were prevalent. The grass season ranged from May to October, Gramineae were prevalent. The weed season ranged from August, Artemisia were prevalent and ragweed was found.

• Asian Journal of Atmospheric Environment
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.33-40
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• 2012

In this study, we characterized the physical form of allergenic Cry j 1 in the urban atmosphere. Through an immunofluorescence antibody method, we showed that allergenic Cry j 1 exists as fine particles (${\leq}1.1{\mu}m$). To determine Cry j 1 concentrations and its particle size distribution, we used the ELISA method to confirm that most Cry j 1 exists as fine particles in the urban atmosphere and is found at high concentrations on fine day next to rainy day. Furthermore, we evaluated Cry j 1 denaturation by using the Biacore J system based on the surface plasmon resonence (SPR) principle and sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). We showed that the dissociation constant ($K_D$) of Cry j 1 that has been exposed to urban polluted air is lower ($1.76{\times}10^{-14}$ M) than that of Cry j 1 ($1.32{\times}10^{-9}-3.37{\times}10^{-9}$ M) of original pollen grains that has not been exposed to air pollutants. Cry j 1 turns into low molecular weight proteins by reacting with various acidic solutions. In sum, we showed that allergenic Cry j 1 exists as fine particles that can deposit in the lower respiratory tract. This finding clarifies the relationship between Japanese cedar pollinosis and air pollutants.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.371-379
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• 2011

To determine the peak dispersal times of allergenic pollen grains in Ulsan, Korea, we performed continuous airborne pollen counts at three stations (Sts. A, B, and C) in Ulsan from August 2009 to November 2010. Pollen grains were sampled using a Durham sampler. Two peak pollen dispersal seasons were observed per year. The peak seasons generally coincided with the flowering period of anemophilous trees: Taxodiaceae (February), Alnus (March), Cupressaceae (April), Quercus, and Pinus (May), and with the flowering phase of herbs from August to November, e.g., Humulus, Artemisia, Gramineae, and Ambrosia from August through September. The highest concentration of airborne pollen was from Pinus (68%), followed by Quercus (15%), Alnus (6%), and Humulus (2%); whereas very low pollen concentrations were from Taxodiaceae, Cupressaceae, Artemisia, Gramineae, and Ambrosia (${\leq}$ 1% of the annual total airborne pollen concentration). Our findings indicate that Alnus and Humulus pollen are major allergens whereas those of Pinus and Quercus are minor allergens. The concentration of Alnus pollen grains at St. C was over five times that at Sts. A and B. This finding implies that individuals living at or near St. C are exposed to high concentrations of Alnus pollen before and after March, which is the flowering period of the alder tree. From August to September, individuals living at or near St. B are exposed to high concentrations of Humulus pollen. Our study suggests that Alnus pollen may be the major aeroallergen causing pollinosis in the spring at St. C and Humulus pollen may be the major aeroallergen in autumn at St. B.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.63 no.12
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• pp.463-468
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• 2020

Pollen-food allergy syndrome (PFAS) is an immunoglobulin E-mediated immediate allergic reaction caused by cross-reactivity between pollen and the antigens of foods-such as fruits, vegetables, or nuts-in patients with pollen allergy. A 42.7% prevalence of PFAS in Korean pediatric patients with pollinosis was recently reported. PFAS is often called oral allergy syndrome because of mild symptoms such as itching, urticaria, and edema mainly in the lips, mouth, and pharynx that appear after food ingestion. However, reports of systemic reactions such as anaphylaxis have been increasing recently. This diversity in the degree of symptoms is related to the types of trigger foods and the characteristics of allergens, such as heat stability. When pediatric patients with pollen allergy are treated, attention should be paid to PFAS and an active effort should be made to diagnose it.

• Allergy, Asthma & Immunology Research
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• v.10 no.6
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• pp.648-661
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• 2018

Purpose: Pollen-food allergy syndrome (PFAS) is an immunoglobulin E (IgE)-mediated allergy in pollinosis patients caused by raw fruits and vegetables and is the most common food allergy in adults. However, there has been no nationwide study on PFAS in Korea. In this study, we investigated the prevalence and clinical characteristics of PFAS in Korea. Methods: Twenty-two investigators participated in this study, in which patients with allergic rhinoconjunctivitis and/or bronchial asthma with pollen allergy were enrolled. The questionnaires included demographic characteristics, a list of fruits and vegetables, and clinical manifestations of food allergy. Pollen allergy was diagnosed by skin prick test and/or measurement of the serum level of specific IgE. Results: A total of 648 pollinosis patients were enrolled. The prevalence of PFAS was 41.7% (n = 270). PFAS patients exhibited cutaneous (43.0%), respiratory (20.0%), cardiovascular (3.7%) or neurologic symptoms (4.8%) in addition to oropharyngeal symptoms. Anaphylaxis was noted in 8.9% of the PFAS patients. Seventy types of foods were linked to PFAS; e.g., peach (48.5%), apple (46.7%), kiwi (30.4%), peanut (17.4%), plum (16.3%), chestnut (14.8%), pineapple (13.7%), walnut (14.1%), Korean melon (12.6%), tomato (11.9%), melon (11.5%) and apricot (10.7%). Korean foods such as taro/taro stem (8.9%), ginseong (8.2%), perilla leaf (4.4%), bellflower root (4.4%), crown daisy (3.0%), deodeok (3.3%), kudzu root (3.0%) and lotus root (2.6%) were also linked to PFAS. Conclusions: This was the first nationwide study of PFAS in Korea. The prevalence of PFAS was 41.7%, and 8.9% of the PFAS patients had anaphylaxis. These results will provide clinically useful information to physicians.

• Asian Journal of Atmospheric Environment
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.191-198
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• 2013

Cryptomeria japonica pollen is the most common pollen, which are scattering during each spring season in Japan. Japanese cedar (Cryptomeria japonica) pollinosis is one of seasonal allergic rhinitis that mainly occurs in Japan. In addition, long range transportation of Yellow Sand from the East Asian continent was also found during the pollen scattering seasons in Japan. Therefore, the interaction or impact between pollen and Yellow Sand should be concerned. In this study, our objective was to investigate the airborne behaviour of Cryptomeria japonica pollen grains and its size-segregated allergenic (Cry j 1) particles as the airborne tracer of Cryptomeria japonica pollen during the Yellow Sand events. Airborne Cryptomeria japonica pollen grains and its size-segregated allergenic particles were collected at roadside of urban residential zones of Saitama city during the pollination periods from February to March in two year investigation of 2009 and 2010. The overlap of Yellow Sand events and dispersal peak of pollen grains was observed. According to the Meteorological data, we found that the peaks of airborne pollen grains appeared under higher wind speed and temperature than the previous day. It was thought that Yellow Sand events and airborne pollen counts were related to wind speed. From the investigation of the airborne behavior of the size-segregated allergen particles by determining Cry j 1 with Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR), the higher concentrations of the allergenic Cry j 1 were detected in particle size equal to or less than $1.1{\mu}m$($PM_{1.1}$) than other particle sizes during Yellow Sand events, especially in the rainy day. We conclude that rainwater trapping Yellow Sand is one of the important factors that affect the release of allergenic pollen species of Cry j 1. Therefore, it is very important to clarify the relationships between Cryptomeria japonica pollen allergenic species and chemical contents of the Yellow Sand particles in further studies.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.41 no.9
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• pp.265-270
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• 2017

Background: Over the years, pine pollens have been excluded as an allergen due to its relatively large size, low protein content, and waxy hydrophobic layer, despite their abundance. However, recent studies suggest the possibilities of pine pollens being allergens, and it has been reported that allergy symptoms were highly prevalent in areas with considerably large pine forests and high possibility of exposure to the pollen. Therefore, we conducted a comparative analysis of the allergenicities of the pollens from the dominant species of Korean pines, red pine (Pinus densiflora), black pine (Pinus thunbergii), and pitch pine (Pinus rigida), in mice. Methods: The protein composition of the pollens from the three pine species was compared via sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). The pine pollens and proteins extracted from the pollens were introduced to BALB/c mice by nasal inhalation and application to exposed skin and the IgE produced by the mice were extracted from blood and analyzed via ELISA. Results: SDS-PAGE showed differing protein compositions of the pollens of the three pine species. Analysis of blood IgE compositions showed a similar amount of IgE produced when pollens were applied to skin. In contrast, when mice inhaled the pollens, P. densiflora was shown to induce significantly more IgE production than those of the other two species. Conclusions: The experimental results demonstrate that the pollens of all three South Korean pine species induce IgE production, and this production was more pronounced when the pollens were inhaled than when they were applied to the skin. Of the three species, the pollen of P. densiflora was found to induce the highest level of IgE production.