Characteristics of T-cell and B-cell immune respoonses to pollen allergens in Bulgarian patients with pollinosis

Characterization of the pollen allergens and identification of the main T-cell and B-cell epitopes is of crucial importance, since the clarification of the cellular and molecular mechanisms will allow long-term control of this type allergic diseases and development of safe immunotherapeutic medication. The objective of this study was to identify which pollen allergens are responsible for the T-cell activation in atopic patients with pollinosis and to determine whether the same allergens are responsible for the IgE-mediated reactions. Thirty-seven patients with pollinosis and thirteen non-allergic subjects were recruited. Peripheral blood samples were collected out of the pollen season. T-cell responses (IFN-γ production) towards different pollen allergens and levels of pollen specific IgE and IgG in the sera were measured by ELISA. The T-cell reactivity in most patients was directed towards the grass pollen B1, tree pollen I and autumn pollen B5. 70% of the allergic individuals responded to allergens from Lolium perenne, 84% to Dactylis glomerata, 11% to Phleum pratense, 65% to Betula pendula and 70% to Taxus baccata. Elevated serum levels of specific IgE in the allergic patients (p<0.01) were measured against the tree pollen I and autumn pollen, which include widespread deciduous trees (birch, willow, poplar and yew) and Artemisia absinthium, respectively. Our results show that the T-cell reactivity and antibody responses may be directed towards different or the same allergens. In addition, we propose that short synthetic peptides, which contain overlapping T- and B-cell epitopes can be used for specific immunotherapy treatment if they lack antibody recognition domains