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JACI Highlights - March 2006
Gore et al - Intra-nasal air sampling in homes: Relationships among reservoir allergen concentrations and asthma severity
No single measure of asthma severity has best characterized the relationship between allergen exposure and disease activity. In the March 2006 issue of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Dr. Gore and colleagues examined the relationship between personal allergen exposure and reservoir dust allergen concentrations. This is the first large scale study to use nasal air sampling to evaluate the effects of personal aeroallergen exposure on asthma severity. The nasal air sampler (NAS), a device that uses an adhesive membrane for collecting inspired particles, allows a direct measure of personal allergen exposure. Gore et al found that nasal air samplers, although theoretically offering advantages over reservoir dust and standard air samplers, are less useful than reservoir dust sampling for examining the relationship between allergen exposure and asthma severity. The authors argue that this is because the individual measurements of personal aeroallergen exposure, such as those used in the study, do not provide an adequate measure of cumulative exposure. While serial, repeated nasal air samples could possibly overcome this and therefore better explain the relationship between disease severity, exposure, and sensitization, such an approach is limited by practical considerations. Nasal air samplers are sensitive tools for exploring changes in personal allergen exposure when the allergen is easily raised and when the relevant time-frame of exposure measurement can be defined. However, the use of nasal air samplers confers no advantage over reservoir dust analysis for studies of allergen exposure and asthma severity.
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