Clinical Research Directory

Identification of B Regulatory Cells by Flow Cytometry

The goal of this laboratory and observational study is to develop a test to quantify B-regulatory cells in blood. This will be used to detect changes in B-regulatory cell populations in pollen and insect venom allergic patients who are receiving routine allergen immunotherapy treatment. The primary question this study aims to answer is; 1). Are changes in blood B-regulatory cells associated with successful allergen immunotherapy treatment, and therefore do these changes suggest patients have developed a suitable level of allergen tolerance and reduction in their allergic symptoms upon re-exposure to the causal allergen. Patients will also be asked to complete quality of life questionnaire periodically throughout the study to determine if there are associations between variation in B-regulatory cell populations in blood and allergic symptoms experienced.

Identification of Allergen-reactive Antibodies in the Blood of Pollen Allergic Patients

The project examines the hypothesis that monoclonal allergen-neutralizing antibodies can be recombinantly produced from B lymphocytes isolated from pollen allergic patients. Patient samples suitable for antibody cloning are selected based on seroprofiling for the respective allergens. The study aims at isolating lymphocytes from patients with potential allergen-neutralizing IgG in serum and to clone antibodies from antibody gene sequences obtained from B cells of those patients.

Impacts of Nitrogen Deposition in the Natural Environment on Pollen Allergy in Belgium

The investigators want to study the effect of environmental nitrogen enrichment on the allergy burden in pollen-sensitized subjects.