Mezquite: una planta alergénica de relevancia clínica en México

Mesquite is a plant of the genus Prosopis . It is distributed in desert and semi-desert areas. Its ecological role stands out for its ability to fix nitrogen and fertilize soils. The seeds are used for animal and human food due to their nutritional properties. Mesquite extracts are used in traditional medicine and have pharmacological potential in the treatment of chronic diseases such as diabetes. Pollen has clinical relevance due to allergic sensitization mainly in desert areas of Mexico. Environmental and atmospheric conditions influence the dispersal of pollen and its allergenicity is enhanced by the deposition of particles associated with environmental pollution on its surface. Although several allergenic proteins from mesquite pollen have been immunodetected in various studies, very few have yet been identified, which limits the design of new diagnostic and therapeutic strategies. The aim of this review carried out from a bibliographic search in PubMed and Google Scholar (from 2000 to 2021), as well as older relevant sources, is to highlight the allergenic potential of mesquite, emphasizing the effect of pollution and climate change in increasing the allergenicity and abundance of pollen as well as the need to identify allergenic proteins that enable the development of allergen-specific diagnosis and immunotherapy for this clinically relevant pollen.