.

10/2020. Occupational allergy to peach tree pollen

A study published in the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine conducted on workers exposed to peach tree pollen demonstrates sensitization to this pollen and its allergen Pru p 9.  

In this field study, carried out on workers who perform their job in the flowering season of peach trees, a clinical sensitization to their pollen is evidenced with the appearance of rhinitis and asthma symptoms. The main pollen allergen causing sensitization is Pru p 9, recently identified by the research group. The results are of interest, since the peach blossom is of entomophilic pollination (through insects) and its pollen is considered difficult to release into the air. For this reason, a new cause of occupational rhinitis & asthma is identified and this possibility is opened to other fruit trees with similar characteristics.

This research has been carried out in the region of Murcia (Spain) under the direction of Dr. Miguel Blanca, from the Allergy Department of the Infanta Leonor Hospital (Madrid), with the participation of the Morales Meseguer and Virgen de Arrixaca hospitals (Murcia), the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, from the Faculty of Chemistry of the Complutense University of Madrid and INMUNOTEK.