Allergenicity of dominant aeropollen in Nigeria: Part I
Date
2017-10
Authors
Adeniyi, Tiwalade Adeyemi
Adeonipekun, Peter Adegbenga
Olowokudejo, James Dele
Akande, Idowu
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Current Allergy & Clinical Immunology
Abstract
Several pollen grains have been studied in detail for purification and characterisation of allergenic components
in the advanced countries; however, many are yet to be studied in the tropics, including Nigeria. To close this
gap, four pollen grains (Poaceae – Cynodon dactylon, Panicum maximum; Cyperaceae – Cyperus rotundus
and Mariscus alternifolius) found dominant in the air from previous aeropalynological studies in Nigeria were
selected. The pollen grains were harvested from fresh anthers and their proteins were extracted, quantified,
separated and subjected to Western-blot analysis. The allergenic proteins were also identified. While C.
dactylon had the highest protein content (17.09 mg/mL), M. alternifolius had the lowest (11.19 mg/mL).
Western-blot analysis showed that individuals were most susceptible to the 35 kDa protein of C. dactylon
(76%). Furthermore, only C. dactylon proteins of 14.5 kDa and 35 kDa were identified with their exact
matches in the ProFound database (Cyn d 12 and Cyn d 1 respectively), whereas the peptide sequences
of eight protein bands were newly added to the database. Of these, the Profilin protein group (14 kDa) is
common to all studied pollen grains – an indication of veritable immunotherapeutic potential. This study
is the first in Nigeria to record allergenic proteins in these pollen grains and to create a foundation for the
development of immunotherapy drugs for allergy treatment in the country
Description
Keywords
Research Subject Categories::NATURAL SCIENCES::Chemistry::Biochemistry , allergenic proteins , immunotherapy , Nigeria , pollen grains , Western Blot
Citation
Adeniyi, Tiwalade & Adeonipekun, Peter & Olowokudejo, James & Akande, Idowu. (2017). Allergenicity of dominant aeropollen in Nigeria: Part I. Current Allergy and Clinical Immunology. 30. 264-269.