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Effect of pollutants upon patients with respiratory allergies
 

I Dávila,1 J Mullol,2 J Bartra,3 A del Cuvillo,4 M Ferrer,5 I Jáuregui,6 J Montoro,7 J Sastre,8 A Valero3

1 Service of Immunoallergy, Hospital Clínico, Salamanca, Spain
2 Rhinology Unit, ENT Service (ICEMEQ), Hospital Clínic, Barcelona, Spain
3 Allergy Unit, Service of Pneumology and Respiratory Allergy, Hospital Clínic (ICT), Barcelona, Spain
4 Clínica Dr. Lobatón, Cádiz, Spain
5 Department of Allergology, Clínica Universitaria de Navarra, Pamplona, Spain
6 Service of Allergy, Hospital de Basurto, Bilbao, Spain
7 Allergy Unit, Hospital La Plana, Villarreal (Castellón), Spain
8 Service of Allergy, Fundación Jiménez Díaz, Madrid, Spain

J Investig Allergol Clin Immunol 2007; Vol. 17, Suppl. 2: 9-20
 

 Abstract


Epidemiological studies have revealed an association between pollution and allergic respiratory diseases. The main pollutants in this sense are nitric oxide, ozone, and particulate matter. The present review on one hand addresses the chemical characteristics of each of these three groups of pollutants and their main sources, and on the other examines their effects upon allergic respiratory diseases - placing special
emphasis on the effects of diesel exhaust particles. For each of the pollutants, the underlying mechanisms capable of infl uencing allergic respiratory diseases are commented. Lastly, an evaluation is made of some of the genetic aspects related to the response to pollutants.

Key words: Allergy. Ozone. Nitric oxide. Particulate matter. Asthma.