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 - Skjøth, 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, Theo

AU - Hegarty, Matthew

AU - Hanlon, Helen M.

AU - Jones, Laura

AU - Kurganskiy, Alexander

AU - Petch, Geoffrey M.

AU - Potter, Caitlin

AU - Rafiq, Abdullah M.

AU - Warner, Amena

AU - Wheeler, Benedict

AU - Osborne, Nicholas J.

AU - Creer, Simon

PY - 2021

Y1 - 2021

N2 - Grass (Poaceae) pollen is the most important outdoor aeroallergen,1 exacerbating a range of respiratory conditions, including allergic asthma and rhinitis (“hay fever”).2, 3, 4, 5 Understanding 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 rhinitis6 and over 300 million with asthma, globally,7 often comorbidly.8 In the UK, allergic asthma has an annual cost of around US$ 2.8 billion (2017).9 The relative contributions of the >11,000 (worldwide) grass species (C. Osborne et al., 2011, Botany Conference, abstract) to respiratory health have been unresolved,10 as grass pollen cannot be readily discriminated using standard microscopy.11 Instead, here we used novel environmental DNA (eDNA) sampling and qPCR12, 13, 14, 15 to 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,1 exacerbating a range of respiratory conditions, including allergic asthma and rhinitis (“hay fever”).2, 3, 4, 5 Understanding 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 rhinitis6 and over 300 million with asthma, globally,7 often comorbidly.8 In the UK, allergic asthma has an annual cost of around US$ 2.8 billion (2017).9 The relative contributions of the >11,000 (worldwide) grass species (C. Osborne et al., 2011, Botany Conference, abstract) to respiratory health have been unresolved,10 as grass pollen cannot be readily discriminated using standard microscopy.11 Instead, here we used novel environmental DNA (eDNA) sampling and qPCR12, 13, 14, 15 to 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.

U2 - 10.1016/j.cub.2021.02.019

DO - 10.1016/j.cub.2021.02.019

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 33711254

VL - 31

SP - 1995-2003,e4

JO - Current Biology

JF - Current Biology

SN - 0960-9822

IS - 9

ER -