Birch and Oak tree pollen allergy and PR-10 proteins
PR10 allergens are present in multiple species of deciduous trees
pollen. Among them, birch in Europe49 and oak in North
America are regarded as primary sensitizers. There are products,
registered worldwide for the treatment of birch pollen allergy50. Recent data suggest
that a birch-based vaccine has clinical benefit during oak pollen season
in North America 51.
Interestingly, a study analyzed the effect of birch-based AIT in
cross-reactive T cell response to homologous PR10 allergens from other
trees 52. This study
demonstrated that down-regulation of T cell reactivity can be achieved
against multiple, T cell cross-reactive PR-10 molecules. The control of
T cell proliferation based on T cell cross-reactivity might be the most
relevant endpoint for successful AIT. As in the case of profilins, PR10
proteins are also present in multiple vegetable species, leading to the
concept of a PR10 allergy syndrome. There is very limited evidence on
the clinical benefit of PR10 based pollen AIT in the amelioration of
pollen-related food allergy syndrome (FPAS)53,54.
However, immunotherapy with Mal d 1 has been associated with clinical
improvement 55. More
studies will be needed to clarify potential use of PR10 pollen vaccines
in this particular type of food allergy.