Progress and challenges in atmospheric biology research of airborne pollen in China
摘要
<p indent="0mm">Pollen allergy is one of the most common causes of allergic rhino conjunctivitis and bronchial asthma in Northern China. Data of epidemiological survey from Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region demonstrated that the confirmed prevalence of pollen-induced allergic rhinitis can be as high as 18.5%. The peak age range of pollinosis patients is <sc>10–44 years</sc>(young and middle-aged adults). Symptoms can last for <sc>2–3 months</sc> during summer and autumn pollen seasons each year, severely affecting patients’ quality of life, work efficiency, and academic performance, which makes it a prominent socio-medical issue. As early as the mid-to-late 1980s, the Department of Allergy, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, finished an annual nationwide survey on airborne pollens, conducting a year-long continuous monitoring in 74 monitoring sites in China. The major species and seasonal distribution patterns of airborne pollen in different regions were preliminarily identified in this study. However, over the past <sc>30 years,</sc> with rapid socioeconomic and continuous development, acceleration of urbanization and urban greening, changes in afforestation tree species and cultivated crop varieties, windbreak and sand fixation efforts and invasion of foreign harmful plants, the species and quantities of airborne pollens have undergone significant changes across different regions over the past three decades. The results of the first national airborne pollen survey conducted three decades ago no longer accurately reflect the current status of airborne pollen in various regions. Consequently, they cannot serve as a scientific basis for selecting inhaled allergen test panel (<italic>in</italic> <italic>vivo</italic> or <italic>in</italic> <italic>vitro</italic>) or formulating allergen-specific immunotherapy (AIT) regimens. In countries and regions with advanced allergology, such as European countries U.S., and Japan, airborne pollen monitoring has become a routin