Publication date: Jun 14, 2026
These findings provide further evidence that environmental pollen exposure can influence host antiviral defences and may contribute to increased susceptibility to respiratory viral infections. ReferenceEggestein A et al. Exposure of nasal epithelial cells with pollen aerosols and coronaviruses in a near-physiological in vitro model. Proteomic profiling of cells co-exposed to birch pollen and hCoV-229E revealed enrichment of pathways associated with apoptosis, cellular stress responses, and cAMP- and MAPK-mediated signalling. Importantly, pre-exposure to both birch and grass pollen significantly increased the production of infectious viral particles following infection with hCoV-229E and SARS-CoV-2. Spatial transcriptomic analysis showed that, in virus-only cultures, high levels of viral gene expression were largely confined to a small number of infected ciliated cells. Researchers also observed reduced levels of the antiviral mediators IL-29 and IFN-, alongside increased concentrations of the pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-6 and thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP), compared with virus-only controls. EAACI, 12-15 June, 2026. Featured image: Javaistan on Pixabay
| Concepts | Keywords |
|---|---|
| Apoptosis | 229e |
| Coronaviruses | Aerosols |
| Cultured | Antiviral |
| Pollen | Cells |
| Coronavirus | |
| Epithelial | |
| Exposure | |
| Infection | |
| Infections | |
| Nasal | |
| Pathways | |
| Pollen | |
| Spread | |
| Viral | |
| Virus |
Semantics
| Type | Source | Name |
|---|---|---|
| pathway | REACTOME | Apoptosis |
| drug | DRUGBANK | Cyclic Adenosine Monophosphate |
| disease | MESH | image |
| pathway | KEGG | Viral replication |
| disease | MESH | infection |
| disease | MESH | viral infections |
| disease | MESH | Allergy |
| disease | MESH | coronavirus infections |