Determination of Potential Allergenic Proteins and Morphologenic Proteins and Morphology of Linden (Tilia cordata), Anatolian oak (Quercus ithaburensis) and Birch (Betula alba) Pollens in Gaziantep

Abstract

Allergic diseases are a major public health problemin the modern societies. Pollens dispersed through wind are one of the major aeroallergens.When they are released to atmosphere in sufficient amount, they can cause thedevelopment of diseases such as asthma, rhinitis, rhinoconjunctivitis etc. inallergically hypersensitive individuals. The spreading of pollens areinfluenced by their amount in the air, their structures, geographic areas andthe climate. Therefore, the types of pollens that hypersensitive individualswho live in different regions are exposed to may differ and different allergicreactions may occur in affected individuals. The high amount of allergens inpollens enhance the sensitivity to pollens. Thus the research inregion-specific plant species allergenic effects is very important. Pollens oflinden (Tilia cordata), Anatolian oak(Quercus ithaburensis) and birch (Betula alba) are important allergensources in Gaziantep province. Pollen allergens are water soluble, stableproteins or glycoproteins of molecular weight between 5-80 kD. A single pollentype usually contains several different allergens. Pollens from linden (T. cordata), Anatolian oak (Q. ithaburensis) and birch (B. alba) were collected duringpollination period and their extracts were prepared. For identification ofpollens morphology slides were prepared according to Wodehouse’s method andimages were taken under light microscope. Total concentrations of potentialallergen proteins were determined from prepared pollen extracts using the BCAmethod. In this study, we aimed to prepare extracts of pollens from linden,Anatolian oak and birch widely grown in wooded areas of Gaziantep Universityfor the study of allergens and their use for diagnosing allergic diseases.