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Updated: Aug 9, 2025

Humanized Mediator Release Assay as a Read-Out for Allergen Potency
Published on: June 29, 2021
Climate change, airborne allergens, and three translational mitigation approaches
Paul J Beggs1, Bernard Clot2, Mikhail Sofiev3
1School of Natural Sciences, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales 2109, Australia.
Abstract:
One of the important adverse impacts of climate change on human health is increases in allergic respiratory diseases such as allergic rhinitis and asthma. This impact is via the effects of increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration and air temperature on sources of airborne allergens such as pollen and fungal spores. This review describes these effects and then explores three translational mitigation approaches that may lead to improved health outcomes, with recent examples and developments highlighted. Impacts have already been observed on the seasonality, production and atmospheric concentration, allergenicity, and geographic distribution of airborne allergens, and these are projected to continue into the future. A technological revolution is underway that has the potential to advance patient management by better avoiding associated increased exposures, including automated real-time airborne allergen monitoring, airborne allergen forecasting and modelling, and smartphone apps for mitigating the health impacts of airborne allergens.
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