Comparative Study of Dominant Aeropollen and Allergy-Related Cases in Akoko Environment, Ondo State, Nigeria

Analysis of the atmospheric pollen content of an area is important in providing standard baseline information on environmental change, vegetation type, species composition and their utilization for safety health and sustainable development. This study was carried out in fourty randomly selected locations/ sites to examine comparatively, the temporal and spatial relationship between the dominant aeropollen and allergy-related cases in Akoko environment, Ondo State, Nigeria between October, 2016 to September, 2017. The aeropollen were collected with Modified Tauber Sampler using simple random sampling technique and analyzed palynologically. Results showed that a total of 28,205 aeropollen grains belonging to 18 dominant aeropollen types were encountered. The dominant aeropollen include Azadirachta indica, Carica papaya, Casuarina equisetifolia, Ceiba pentandra, Cocos nucifera, Delonix regia, and those of the families Asteraceae, Cyperaceae and Poaceae. Aeropollen grains were most abundant between September and January. Rainfall and relative humidity had more negative effect on aeropollen concentration. Furthermore, the occurrence of these dominant aeropollen indicates the availability of allergenic taxa in the atmosphere. A total of 3,826 patients were diagnosed of allergy-related cases with the highest values of 924 and 875 recorded in October and July respectively when aeropollen were most abundant in the studied environment. Adequate environmental monitoring through pollen rain analysis and avoidance of exposure to allergens during their season of prevalence are recommended for safety health and environmental sustainability. Extraction, isolation and quantification of allergenic proteins in the dominant aeropollen grains will provide baseline data for immunological research in the studied area.