Figure 1.
Bet v 1 content of birch pollen in trees against different, urbanisation-related environmental conditions.
No significant correlation could be observed between Bet v 1 content and urbanisation index (A; n = 40) or NO2 concentration (B; n = 40). Bet v 1 showed a significant and negative correlation with temperature (C; n = 16) and was positively correlated with site-specific ozone levels (D; n = 40). *: p<0.05.
Figure 2.
Scatter plots of different environmental parameters.
A significant correlation was observed between the parameters urbanisation index (UI) and temperature (A; n = 16), (B) UI and NO2 concentration (n = 40) and (C) temperature and NO2 concentration (n = 16). Ozone was not correlated with either (D) UI (n = 40), (E) NO2 (n = 40) or (F) temperature (n = 16); ***: p<0.001.
Figure 3.
Content of PALMs in pollen samples plotted against different urbanisation-related environmental conditions.
No correlation was seen between PALMPGE2 and UI (A; n = 40), temperature (B; n = 16) or NO2 concentration (C; n = 40). A significant association of high ozone concentrations and low PALMPGE2 contents was observed (D; n = 40). PALMLTB4 did not show any significant correlation. Neither UI (E; n = 40), nor temperature (F; n = 16), NO2- (G; n = 40) and ozone (H; n = 40) were related to the content of PALMLTB4. ***: p<0.001.
Figure 4.
Immune stimulatory versus immune modulatory potential of pollen samples from higher- and lower-ozone-exposed birch trees.
Aqueous extracts (APEs) of birch pollen sampled from high and low ozone exposed trees were chosen for neutrophil migration assays and stimulation of monocyte derived dendritic cells. APEs were applied in 3 concentrations and the AUC was calculated. Higher ozone-exposed pollen induced stronger neutrophil chemotaxis compared to pollen samples from lower ozone–exposed trees (A). In contrast, birch pollen from lower ozone-exposed trees were more potent in inhibiting the LPS-induced release of IL-12p70 from human monocyte-derived dendritic cells (B). APEs were prepared from birch pollen sampled from higher ozone-exposed trees (n = 2; mean ozone: 85 µg/m3) and from lower ozone-exposed trees (n = 2; mean ozone: 54 µg/m3). All APEs were tested in n = 3 patients. *: p<0.05 (Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-ranks test).
Figure 5.
Cutaneous immune response towards pollen from higher and lower ozone-exposed birch trees.
APEs were prepared from pollen sampled from higher ozone-exposed trees (n = 2; mean ozone: 85 µg/m3) and from lower ozone-exposed trees (n = 2; mean ozone: 54 µg/m3). All APEs were tested in n = 5 patients. Higher ozone-exposed pollen induced larger wheals (A) and flares (B) in skin prick tests compared to lower ozone-exposed pollen. *: p<0.05; **: p<0.01 (Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-ranks test).