TY - JOUR

T1 - Environmental DNA reveals links between abundance and composition of airborne grass pollen and respiratory health

AU - Rowney, Francis M.

AU - Brennan, Georgina L.

AU - Skjoth, Carsten A.

AU - Griffith, Gareth W.

AU - McInnes, Rachel N.

AU - Clewlow, Yolanda

AU - Adams-Groom, Beverley

AU - Barber, Adam

AU - De Vere, Natasha

AU - Economou, Theodoros

AU - Hegarty, Matthew

AU - Hanlon, Helen M.

AU - Jones, Laura

AU - Kurganskiy, Alexander

AU - Petch, Geoff M.

AU - Potter, Caitlin

AU - Munawar Rafiq, Abdullah

AU - Warner, Amena

AU - The PollerGEN Consortium, null

AU - Wheeler, Benedict W.

AU - Osborne, Nicholas J.

AU - Creer, Simon

PY - 2021/5/10

Y1 - 2021/5/10

N2 - Grass (Poaceae) pollen is the most important outdoor aeroallergen,1exacerbating a range of respiratory conditions, including allergic asthma and rhinitis (‘‘hay fever’’).2–5Understanding the relationships between respiratory diseases and airborne grass pollen with a view to improving forecasting has broad public health and socioeconomic relevance. It is estimated that there are over 400 million people with allergic rhinitis6and over300 million with asthma, globally,7often comorbidly.8In the UK, allergic asthma has an annual cost of around US$ 2.8 billion (2017).9The relative contributions of the >11,000 (worldwide) grass species (C. Osborne et al.,2011, Botany Conference, abstract) to respiratory health have been unresolved,10as grass pollen cannot be readily discriminated using standard microscopy.11Instead, here we used novel environmental DNA (eDNA)sampling and qPCR12–15to measure the relative abundances of airborne pollen from common grass species during two grass pollen seasons (2016 and 2017) across the UK. We quantitatively demonstrate discrete spatiotemporal patterns in airborne grass pollen assemblages. Using a series of generalized additive models(GAMs), we explore the relationship between the incidences of airborne pollen and severe asthma exacerbations (sub-weekly) and prescribing rates of drugs for respiratory allergies (monthly). Our results indicate that a subset of grass species may have disproportionate influence on these population-scale respiratory health responses during peak grass pollen concentrations. The work demonstrates the need for sensitive and detailed biomonitoring of harmful aeroallergens in order to investigate and mitigate their impacts on human health.

AB - Grass (Poaceae) pollen is the most important outdoor aeroallergen,1exacerbating a range of respiratory conditions, including allergic asthma and rhinitis (‘‘hay fever’’).2–5Understanding the relationships between respiratory diseases and airborne grass pollen with a view to improving forecasting has broad public health and socioeconomic relevance. It is estimated that there are over 400 million people with allergic rhinitis6and over300 million with asthma, globally,7often comorbidly.8In the UK, allergic asthma has an annual cost of around US$ 2.8 billion (2017).9The relative contributions of the >11,000 (worldwide) grass species (C. Osborne et al.,2011, Botany Conference, abstract) to respiratory health have been unresolved,10as grass pollen cannot be readily discriminated using standard microscopy.11Instead, here we used novel environmental DNA (eDNA)sampling and qPCR12–15to measure the relative abundances of airborne pollen from common grass species during two grass pollen seasons (2016 and 2017) across the UK. We quantitatively demonstrate discrete spatiotemporal patterns in airborne grass pollen assemblages. Using a series of generalized additive models(GAMs), we explore the relationship between the incidences of airborne pollen and severe asthma exacerbations (sub-weekly) and prescribing rates of drugs for respiratory allergies (monthly). Our results indicate that a subset of grass species may have disproportionate influence on these population-scale respiratory health responses during peak grass pollen concentrations. The work demonstrates the need for sensitive and detailed biomonitoring of harmful aeroallergens in order to investigate and mitigate their impacts on human health.

KW - pollen

KW - grass pollen

KW - eDNA

KW - qPCR

KW - respiratory allergy

KW - asthma

KW - aerial allergens

KW - biomonitoring

KW - Interdisciplinary

U2 - 10.1016/j.cub.2021.02.019

DO - 10.1016/j.cub.2021.02.019

M3 - Article

VL - 31

SP - 1995

EP - 2003

JO - Current Biology

JF - Current Biology

SN - 0960-9822

IS - 9

ER -