Research projects

The main purpose of this project is to determine why, in the presence of the same antigenic stimulus, some patients are affected (they become allergic) and others are not, taking advantage of the current possibility of simultaneously analysing the expression of nearly all genes (by "microarray" analysis) at different times during the environmental exposure. As our specific model, we have chosen the allergy to olive pollen, not only because of our experience in this field, but also because it is one of the most significant causes of pollinosis in the Mediterranean region and, after Gramineae, the second most common in Spain (the first in some regions, such as southern Spain). We are endeavouring to define molecular mechanisms that regulate the allergic response to this pollen, comparing the genic expression, in low and high environmental exposure conditions, of 5 groups of subjects: a) tolerant, b) asymptomatic or subclinical, c) allergy sufferers, not sensitised to olive pollen, d) sensitised to olive pollen, untreated, and e) sensitised to olive pollen, treated. The results of this work, apart from providing additional knowledge on the etiopathogeny of these kinds of responses, could be extremely useful in defining allergic response risk and/or prevention markers, as well as establishing regulating mechanisms that could improve the current immune therapy actions and open new horizons for the design of future specific treatments.