Re: Research from Harvard University, Department of Environme...

[Guest guest]

Hi Jeff,

I am not following what you are saying. Are you saying too much weight is

being put on Alternaria when it is actually other mold, more prevalent

indoors, that are the more logical cause illness? I know that with the chronic

fungal sinusitis research, they address Alternaria heavily. I have always

wondered why that is. Seems like aspergillus would be a more logical cause.

" A final group of allergen orthologues, including the major allergens Asp f

1 and Alt a

1, appear to be present in only a limited number of species. "

Sorry to be so dense. May have missed your point all together.

Orthologues, homologues, etc. is a whole new concept to me. Can you re-explain

for me?

Thanks,

Sharon K

In a message dated 6/9/2008 7:59:35 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time,

jeff@... writes:

Sharon,

This proves something that I have been saying for some time, that

despite common reactivity to Alternaria, other allergens (epitopes)

are responsible for the reactivity.

It always struck me as odd how important Alternaria sensitivity is in

the allergists " lexicon. " I rarely see Alternaria spores indoors

compared to other genera such as Penicillium and Aspergillus.

In a typical bed, most of the mold spores are settled from outdoors

anyway, unless there is some particular circumstance such as bed

wetting or chronic illness requiring bed rest.

Look at " Comparative genomics of fungal allergens and epitopes shows

widespread distribution of closely related allergen and epitope

orthologues " Bowyer, Marcin Fraczek and W Denning

_http://www.ncbi.http://www.nhttp://www.ncbi_

(http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17029625)

" BACKGROUND: Allergy is a common debilitating and occasionally life

threatening condition. The fungal kingdom contains a number of species

that produce a wide range of well defined protein allergens although

the vast majority of fungal species have unknown allergenic potential.

The recent genome sequencing of a variety of fungi provides the

opportunity to assess the occurrence of allergen orthologues across

the fungal kingdom. Here we use comparative genomics to survey the

occurrence of allergen orthologues in fungi.

RESULTS: A database of 82 allergen sequences was compiled and used to

search 22 fungal genomes. Additionally we were able to model allergen

structure for representative members of several highly homologous

allergen orthologue classes. We found that some allergen orthologue

classes that had predicted structural congruence to allergens and

allergen epitopes were ubiquitous in all fungi. Other allergen

orthologues classes were less well conserved and may not possess

conserved allergen epitope orthologues in all fungi. A final group of

allergen orthologues, including the major allergens Asp f 1 and Alt a

1, appear to be present in only a limited number of species.

CONCLUSION: These results imply that most fungi may possess proteins

that have potential to be allergens or to cross react with allergens.

This, together with the observation that important allergens such as

Asp f 1 are limited to genera or species, has significant implications

for understating fungal sensitization, and interpreting diagnosis and

management of fungal allergy. "

> 3a. Research from Harvard University, Department of Environmental Health

> Posted by: " _snk1955@..._ (mailto:snk1955@...) " _snk1955@..._

(mailto:snk1955@...) snk1955

> Date: Tue Jun 3, 2008 3:30 pm ((PDT))

>

>

> From Harvard:

> " Sensitivity to Alternaria allergens has been associated with severe

asthma

> and life-threatening exacerbations, and a high prevalence of Alternaria

> sensitivity has been reported among inner-city populations.

> From s Hopkins:

> " While allergic responses to inhaling mold are a recognized factor in lower

> airway disease such as asthma, studies show that outdoor mold is more

likely

> to cause problems for asthmatics than mold found indoors. "

>

> " The link between mold and allergies is even weaker, the experts say.

> Current research doesn?t provide a persuasive case that exposure to

> mold in the

> outdoor air plays a role in allergies, and studies linking indoor

> molds to upper

> airway allergy are even less compelling. "

>

>

> Maybe someone should call s Hopkins and tell them that they are wrong!

> But who would that be that could make a difference? There is no government

> oversight for university propaganda.

> ALLERGIES IMMUNOLOGY; Research from Harvard University, Department of

> Environmental Health in the area of allergies immunology described

> Life Science

> Weekly

> May 20, 2008

> Copyright 2008 Life Science Weekly via NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net

>

> A report, 'Alternaria measures in inner-city, low-income housing by

> immunoassay and culture-based analysis,' is newly published data in

> ls of

> Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. " Sensitivity to Alternaria allergens has been

> associated with severe asthma and life-threatening exacerbations, and a

high

> prevalence of Alternaria sensitivity has been reported among

> inner-city populations.

> Traditionally, epidemiologic studies have measured indoor Alternaria

> concentrations by cultural analyses; however, the number of viable

> spores may not be

> a good proxy for allergen levels, " researchers in the United States report

> (see also Allergies Immunology).

>

> " Furthermore, other genera share epitopes with Alternaria that may

contribute

> to the allergenic effect. To compare measures of Alternaria antigen by

> enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay with measures of Alternaria and

> cross-reactive

> genera (Ulocladium, Curvularia, Epicoccum, and Stemphylium) by cultural

> analysis. Antigen assays and cultural analyses were performed on

> vacuum-collected

> bed dust samples collected between June 18, 2002, and February 9, 2004,

from

> 3 inner-city, low-income public housing developments. Alternaria antigen

was

> found in all bed dust samples regardless of season. However, culturable

> Alternaria, Ulocladium, Curvularia, Epicoccum, and Stemphylium were

> only found in

> 50%, 35%, 6%, 11%, and 0% of bed samples, respectively. No correlations

were

> found between Alternaria antigen and culturable concentrations of

Alternaria

> or of its cross-reactive genera except for marginal correlation with

> Ulocladium culturable concentrations, Ulocladium culturab

> colleagues, Harvard

> University, Department of Environmental Health.

> The researchers concluded: " The results confirm that exposure to Alternaria

> antigens and allergens can occur even in the absence of culturable

Alternaria

> or its cross-reactive genera, so further refinement and use of assays are

> essential for characterizing the distribution and determinants of

> indoor fungal

> allergen levels forsensitive populations.

> s and colleagues published their study in ls of Allergy, Asthma &

> Immunology (Alternaria measures in inner-city, low-income housing by

> immunoassay and culture-based analysis. ls of Allergy, Asthma &

> Immunology,

> 2008;100(4): 2008;1

> For additional information, contact J.L. s, Harvard School of Public

> Health, Dept. of Environmental Health, Boston, Massachusetts 02215 USA..

> Publisher contact information for the journal ls of Allergy, Asthma &

> Immunology is: American College Allergy Asthma Immunology, 85 West

> Algonquin Rd.

> Suite 550, Arlington HTS, IL 60005, USA.

> Keywords: United States, Boston, Allergies Immunology, Allergen, Allergies,

> Allergy Medicine, Asthma, Environmental Health, Immunoassay, Immunology.

> This article was prepared by Life Science Weekly editors from staff and

other

> reports. Copyright 2008, Life Science Weekly via NewsRx.com.

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