In Vitro Exposure of Acer negundo Pollen to Atmospheric Levels of SO2 and NO2: Effects on Allergenicity and Germination

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• 作者：Raquel Sousa ; Laura Duque ; Abel J. Duarte ; Carlos R. Gomes ; Helena Ribeiro ; Ana Cruz ; Joaquim C. G. Esteves da Silva ; Ilda Abreu
• 刊名：Environmental Science & Technology (ES&T)
• 出版年：2012
• 出版时间：February 21, 2012
• 年：2012
• 卷：46
• 期：4
• 页码：2406-2412
• 全文大小：383K
• 年卷期：v.46,no.4(February 21, 2012)
• ISSN：1520-5851

文摘

In the last years, a rising trend of pollen allergies in urban areas has been attributed to atmospheric pollution. In this work, we investigated the effects of SO₂ and NO₂ on the protein content, allergenicity, and germination rate of Acer negundo pollen. A novel environmental chamber was assembled to exposure pollen samples with SO₂ or NO₂ at two different levels: just below and two times the atmospheric hour-limit value acceptable for human health protection in Europe. Results showed that protein content was lower in SO₂-exposed pollen samples and slightly higher in NO₂-exposed pollen compared to the control sample. No different polypeptide profiles were revealed by SDS-PAGE between exposed and nonexposed pollen, but the immunodetection assays indicated higher IgE recognition by all sera of sensitized patients to Acer negundo pollen extracts in all exposed samples in comparison to the nonexposed samples. A decrease in the germination rate of exposed in contrast to nonexposed pollen was verified, which was more pronounced for NO₂-exposed samples. Our results indicated that in urban areas, concentrations of SO₂ and NO₂ below the limits established for human protection can indirectly aggravate pollen allergy on predisposed individuals and affect plant reproduction.