WHY ARE NASAL AND BRONCHIAL SYMPTOMS MOSTLY PERENNIAL IN PATIENTS WITH MONOSENSITIZATION TO OLEA-EUROPAEA POLLEN ALLERGENS

In the last few years interest in the clinical aspects of Olea europae a (O.e.) pollen allergy has increased. For many years we have observed in our geographical area a perennial pattern of clinical symptoms in subjects with monosensitization to O.e. allergens without any worsenin g during the olive pollen season. We tried to demonstrate the clinical relevance of O.e. sensitization in our patients and, moreover, to det ermine why this pattern is elicited. We selected a group of 26 patient s with rhinitis and/or bronchial asthma and an immediate positive skin reaction only to O.e. pollen extract. Using commercially available ex tracts and reagents, the following diagnostic procedures were performe d: Skin prick tests (SPT), specific O.e. IgE assays, nonspecific bronc hial provocation tests (NsBPT) and specific nasal provocation tests (s NPT), respectively, in patients with bronchial asthma and rhinitis. Po llen counts and a statistical analysis using Spearman's correlation te st were also carried out. 21 of 26 O.e. monosensitive patients showed perennial type of clinical symptoms without any particular worsening d uring olive pollination season. We found a high degree of statistical significance between the results of SPT/sNPT and serum specific IgE de termination. Many patients exhibited a late response after sNPT. No de finitive data were derived from our findings, even though the occurren ce of many late reactions after sNPT could in part explain the perenni al type of nasal symptoms. We would like to emphasize the necessity of better purification and standardization of diagnostic materials and, moreover, suggest further studies with a greater number of O.e. monose nsitive patients living in different geographical areas.