Atmospheric concentration of Cladosporium and Alternaria spores in Adana and preperation of protein extracts for their usage in skin prick test

The determination of airborne fungal spore concentrations can be useful in the diagnosis and prevention of seasonal allergic diseases.In this study, Cladosporium Link and Alternaria Nees ex Wallroth, important spores for allergy, were collected from Adana atmosphere by means of a Burkard seven-day recording volumetric trap, which was placed at the city centre from 01 January 2006 to 01 January 2007. Daily, monthly and annual concentrations of Cladosporium and Alternaria spores have been recorded. The effects of the meteorological factors like temperature, rainfall, prevailling winds and relative humidity on the variation of spore concentrations have been investigated. Total 1537307 fungal spores were counted in Adana atmosphere in 2006. 1117763 (73%) of them were Cladosporium and 419544 (%27) were Alternaria. Cladosporium was detected as the dominant genus in Adana atmosphere.Total cell protein extracts were prepared from fungi (Cladosporium herbarum, Cladosporium oxysporum, Alternaria alternata, Alternaria pluriseptata) and applied to the patients in the Pediatric Allergy Clinic of Çukurova University Medical Faculty. Skin prick test was performed on the 35 patients with fungal allergy and 20 control group at the same time using the protein extracts and the standart allergens.When the results of the skin-prick tests were obtained by using the standart allergens at the clinic and the fungal protein extracts, the latter was found succesful. As a result, it can be concluded that fungal protein extracts prepared from the fungi obtained from our region/country can be used in the clinic applications for skin- prick tests.