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Allergen Avoidance: Pollen Avoidance - Tree, Grass, and Weed

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  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Medical Immunology

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Synonyms

Environmental allergens; Outdoor allergens

Definition

Pollen grains or particles are complex structures whose functions in plant reproduction are varied and play a role in allergenicity including enzymatic activity such as serine and cysteine proteases. Airborne pollens range in size from 20 to 60 μm which is thought to result in the majority of these allergens being presented to the upper respiratory system. Yet smaller pollen particles are found in the lower respiratory system and trigger asthma symptoms (Brooks and Bush 2009). Pollen grains are composed of the male reproductive portions of the plants. Allergenic portions of the grain are rapidly released from the grain upon contact with the mucosal surface (Wallace et al. 2008).

Wind-pollinated plants (anemophilous) have more significance in allergy as compared with insect pollinated (entomophilous) due to the greater concentrations found in the air and increased contact with respiratory mucosa. Pollen proteins play a wide...

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References

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Allergic Diseases, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA

    Shefali Samant

  2. Division of Allergic Diseases, Mayo Clinic, 200 First Street SW, Rochester, MN, 55905, USA

    James T. Li

Authors
  1. Shefali Samant
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  2. James T. Li
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Shefali Samant .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia

    Ian R. Mackay

  2. Center for Autoimmune Disease Research, Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Department of Pathology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Noel R. Rose

  3. Division of Allergy and Immunology, Department of Internal Medicine, University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine, James A. Haley Veterans' Hospital, Tampa, FL, USA

    Dennis K. Ledford

  4. Division of Allergy and Immunology, Department of Internal Medicine, University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine, James A. Haley Veterans' Hospital, Tampa, FL, USA

    Richard F. Lockey

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© 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Samant, S., Li, J.T. (2014). Allergen Avoidance: Pollen Avoidance - Tree, Grass, and Weed. In: Mackay, I.R., Rose, N.R., Ledford, D.K., Lockey, R.F. (eds) Encyclopedia of Medical Immunology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-9194-1_519

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-9194-1_519

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-9193-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-9194-1

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