title: Marker allergens of weed pollen - basic considerations and diagnostic benefits in the clinical routine: Part 16 of the Series Molecular Allergology.
abstract: The term weed is referring to plants used as culinary herbs and medicinal plants as well as ecologically adaptive and invasive segetal plants. In Europe, pollen of ragweed, mugwort, English plantain and pellitory are the main elicitors of weed pollen allergies. Presently, 35 weed pollen allergens have been identified. The most relevant belong to the protein families of pectate lyases, defensin-like proteins, non-specific lipid transfer proteins, and Ole e 1-like proteins. The sensitization frequency depends on geographic regions and might affect more than 50 % of pollen allergic patients in distinct regions. Due to overlapping flowering seasons, similar habitats, polysensitizations and cross-reactive (pan)-allergens, it is difficult to diagnose genuine weed pollen sensitization using pollen extracts. Marker allergens for component-resolved diagnostics are available for the important weed pollen. These are Amb a 1 (ragweed), Art v 1 (mugwort), Pla l 1 (English plantain) and Par j 2 (pellitory). Molecule-based approaches can be used to identify the primary sensitizer and thus enable selection of the appropriate weed pollen extracts for allergen immunotherapy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biology, University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria.
authors.forename: Teresa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Stemeseder
authors.affiliation: Floridsdorf Allergy Center, Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Hemmer
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Paracelsus Private Medical University Salzburg, Salzburg, Österreich.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hawranek
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biology, University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria ; Christian Doppler Laboratory for Biosimilar Characterization, University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria ; Christian Doppler Laboratory for Biosimilar Characterization Department of Molecular Biology, University of Salzburg, Hellbrunnerstraße 34, 5020 Salzburg, Austria.
authors.forename: Gabriele
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gadermaier
keywords: English plantain; Weed pollen; component resolved diagnostics; marker allergens; mugwort; pellitory; ragweed