Pollen exposure weakens innate defense against respiratory viruses

Stefanie Gilles*, Cornelia Blume, Maria Wimmer, Athanasios Damialis, Laura Meulenbroek, Mehmet Gökkaya, Carolin Bergougnan, Selina Eisenbart, Nicklas Sundell, Magnus Lindh, Lars-Magnus Andersson, Åslög Dahl, Adam Chaker, Franziska Kolek, Sabrina Wagner, Avidan U Neumann, Cezmi A Akdis, Johan Garssen, Johan Westin, Belinda Van't LandDonna E Davies, Claudia Traidl-Hoffmann

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Hundreds of plant species release their pollen into the air every year during early spring. During that period, pollen allergic as well as non-allergic patients frequently present to doctors with severe respiratory tract infections. Our objective was therefore to assess whether pollen may interfere with antiviral immunity.

METHODS: We combined data from real-life human exposure cohorts, a mouse model and human cell culture to test our hypothesis.

RESULTS: Pollen significantly diminished interferon-λ and pro-inflammatory chemokine responses of airway epithelia to rhinovirus and viral mimics and decreased nuclear translocation of interferon regulatory factors. In mice infected with respiratory syncytial virus, co-exposure to pollen caused attenuated antiviral gene expression and increased pulmonary viral titers. In non-allergic human volunteers, nasal symptoms were positively correlated with airborne birch pollen abundance, and nasal birch pollen challenge led to downregulation of type I and -III interferons in nasal mucosa. In a large patient cohort, numbers of rhinoviruspositive cases were correlated with airborne birch pollen concentrations.

CONCLUSION: The ability of pollen to suppress innate antiviral immunity, independent of allergy, suggests that high-risk population groups should avoid extensive outdoor activities when pollen and respiratory virus seasons coincide.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)576-587
Number of pages12
JournalAllergy
Volume75
Issue number3
Early online date11 Sept 2019
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Mar 2020

Keywords

  • antiviral response
  • lambda-interferones
  • nasal symptoms
  • nonallergenic pollen compounds
  • respiratory syncytial virus
  • rhinovirus

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