title: Pigeon allergens in indoor environments: a preliminary study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Few studies have measured pigeon allergens in non pigeon coop environments. This study was conducted to determine approximate pigeon dropping allergen concentrations in indoor environments.
  
  
  METHODS
  Polyclonal antibody serum was prepared by injecting a rabbit three times with crude wild pigeon dropping extract in 50 mM Tris buffer with Freund's adjuvant. One hundred and fifteen dust samples were collected in a pigeon-infested school, pigeon coops, homes and hospitals and analyzed by a direct competitive pigeon enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The highest level of pigeon allergen inhibitory activity were recorded in four samples from pigeon coop bedding samples with a median activity of 11.2% relative to pigeon droppings. The second highest level of pigeon allergens was in a pigeon-infested high school with a median or 7.4% activity relative to pigeon droppings. At an entrance underneath pigeon roosts, one sample had a relative inhibitory activity of 62.3%. Pigeon allergen inhibitory levels were generally low in the home and hospital samples, but nevertheless 46 out of 89 of these samples were still above detection limit.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study suggests that large concentrations of pigeon allergens can be found in buildings without domestic pigeons such as the pigeon-infested high school.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Science, University of Illinois at Chicago 60612, USA.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Curtis
authors.forename: B-S
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Cai
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Morozova
authors.forename: J-L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Scheff
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Persky
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Einoder
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Diblee
mesh_terms: D016902:Air Pollution, Indoor; D000485:Allergens / Q000032:analysis* / Q000276:immunology; D000818:Animals; D002641:Chicago; D010856:Columbidae / Q000276:immunology*; D004391:Dust / Q000032:analysis*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D006761:Hospitals; D006798:Housing; D006801:Humans; D012574:Schools
chemical_list: D000485:Allergens; D004391:Dust