MERCURIALIS ANNUA - CHARACTERIZATION OF MAIN ALLERGENS AND CROSS-REACTIVITY WITH OTHER SPECIES

A multicentric study was conducted to evaluate the frequency of Mercur ialis annua pollen sensitization in several areas of Spain and to sele ct a population sample to characterize the main allergenic components in M, annua pollen. Patients were recruited from six hospitals in Spai n. Out of 420 patients sensitized to pollens, 195 (46.4%) showed posit ive skin tests to M, annua, thus evidencing the high level of sensitiz ation to the pollen of this plant in Spain. Thirty-seven sera with RAS T class values to hi. annua greater than or equal to 3 were selected f or SDS-PAGE immunoblotting analysis. Two main allergenic components wi th molecular weigths of 15.8 and 14.1 kD were detected in 59 and 51% o f the sera, respectively, and they were identified as profilins. Isola tion of the relevant allergens was made by affinity chromatography on a poly-l-proline-Sepharose column, followed by gel filtration and anio n exchange chromatography in the micropreparative SMART(R) System. A s ignificant but low antigenic cross-reactivity between M, annua and Ole a europaea, Fraxinus elatior, Ricinus communis, Salsola kali, Parietar ia judaica and Artemisia vulgaris was demonstrated by several in vitro techniques.