Respiratory symptoms and sensitization to airborne pollen of ragweed and mugwort of adults in Southwest Germany

Background and objective: Allergic diseases of the respiratory tract are common atopic diseases in the population. Pollen of plants are one of their main causes. Pollen of trees, grasses, and weeds like mugwort are of particular importance in this context. The purpose of the present study was to determine the association between typical respiratory symptoms due to pollen allergens and the sensitization to pollen of ragweed and mugwort in adults. Methods: 1039 participants (18 to 66 years) from Southwest Germany were included in this cross-sectional study. Complains typically for aeroallergens were recorded by questionnaire. In-vitro existing sensitizations were determined for grasses/early bloomer (gx1), trees (tx6), mugwort (w6 and Art-v1) and ragweed (w1 and Amb-a1) by testing for specific IgE-antibodies. Results: In a screening test with a mixed allergen sample (sx1) 36.0 % of the participants showed an aeroallergen sensitization. Consecutive investigations of these 374 positive samples revealed a sensitization to grasses/early bloomer, trees, ragweed (w1), mugwort (w6) and the major allergens ragweed (Amb-a1) and mugwort (Art-v1) in 61.8 %, 54.5 %, 29.9 %, 24.3 %, 1.9 %, and 12.3 %, respectively. This corresponds to 22.2 %, 19.6 %, 10.8 %, 8.7 %, 0.7 % and 4.4 %, respectively, in the whole study population. The participants tested positively stated significantly more disorders. On average, 51.1 % had known hay fever, 65.2 % sneezing without cold and 41.5 % sneezing due to contact with grasses or flowers. In contrast, participants tested negatively stated disorders in only 4.4 %, 32.5 %, and 3.9 %, respectively. Conclusion: In Southwest Germany, sensitizations to plant pollen mainly are still caused by grasses, trees, and weeds like mugwort. A sensitization to pollen of ragweed alone is rare until now. However, in case of continuous allergic disorders of the respiratory tract in late summer, a sensitization to ragweed can be important for differential diagnostics.