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Raquel Sousa, Helena Ribeiro, Ana Cruz, Laura Duque, Ilda Abreu

by a combination of ion exchange chromatography and to 2,921 pollen grains per cubic meter of air in 2007
gel filtration . After washing, blots were probed with (Table 1).
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mouse anti–human IgE -HRP or with goat anti -rabbit IgG- The highest Parietaria spp. airborne pollen concentra
HRP during 1 h at 4.ºC. The reaction was revealed using tions were mainly found between April and August, being
peroxidase ECL substrate and exposed to ECL Hyperfilm the maximum airborne concentration usually between
(GE Healthcare). The chemiluminescent signal was ex May and July. The average main pollen season was of
posed to AGFA medical X ray film, developed by Fuji 13±4.3 weeks, being the longest main pollen season re
medical film processor model FPM 100A, and the antige corded in 2004, with 153 days and the shortest in 2012,
nic profile was quantified as described above. with 62 days. The average airborne pollen peak levels
SDS PAGE resolved P. judaica pollen proteins were attained within a 24 h period was 50 pollen.m of air,
3
transferred onto nitrocellulose membranes. After block being the highest values observed in 2007, with 110 pol
3
ing, two blots were kept overnight at 4.ºC with aliquots len.m of air, and the lowest in 2003, with 18 pollen.m
3
of patient serum only sensitized to P. judaica pollen extract of air (Table 1; Figure 2A).
with saturating buffer as the control experiment (1:5 v/v) Concerning intradiurnal variation, the highest airborne
or pre incubated with P. judaica pollen extract as inhibitor. pollen concentrations were recorded during the morning
Bound IgE was detected as described previously. period. Parietaria airborne pollen started to increase at
first day hours (7 a.m.) reaching a maximum value between
9 -11 a.m. that corresponded on average to 10% of its
RESULTS daily total. A similar concentration, around 3%, during
the other hours of the day was observed (Figure 2B).
Aerobiological monitoring Overall correlations between Parietaria spp. airborne
Considering the period between January 2003 and pollen concentration and the meteorological factors
September 2012, Parietaria spp. pollen was the most abun showed positive correlations with the thermal parameters
dant type in the atmosphere of Porto and constitutes and negative with precipitation and relative humidity.
nearly 17% of the total pollen spectrum. The annual pol Consistent correlations along the studied years were
len concentration ranged from 654 pollen grains in 2003 observed for maximum and mean temperature (Table 2).

Figure 2. Parietaria spp. daily airborne pollen distribution (A) and airborne average hourly distribution, expressed in percentage
(B) in Porto city from January 2003 to September 2012

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