Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34708942›Full record

ArticleClinical and translational allergy2021

Fractional exhaled nitric oxide levels in relation to work-related respiratory burden and sensitization to wheat flour and multigrain in bakers.

Mario Olivieri, Mario Malerba, Gianluca Spiteri, Lorena Torroni, Carlo Alberto Biscardo, Dario Valenza, Andrei Malinovschi

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Clinical and translational allergy, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
1.0field-weighted citation impact, top 22% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed, 9 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Longitudinal Study of Fractional Exhaled Nitric Oxide (FeNO) and Spirometric Indices in Trainee Bakers and Confectioners.Clinical and experimental allergy : journal of the British Society for Allergy and Clinical Immunology · 2025
    Article
  2. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.

Mario OlivieriUnit of Occupational Medicine, Department of Diagnostics and Public Health, University of Verona, Verona, Italy.
Mario MalerbaDepartment of Translational Medicine, University of Piemonte Orientale, Novara, Italy.
Gianluca SpiteriUnit of Occupational Medicine, Department of Diagnostics and Public Health, University of Verona, Verona, Italy.
Lorena TorroniUnit of Epidemiology and Medical Statistics, Department of Diagnostic and Public Health, University of Verona, Verona, Italy.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0707-7153
Carlo Alberto BiscardoUnit of Occupational Medicine, Department of Diagnostics and Public Health, University of Verona, Verona, Italy.
Dario ValenzaUnit of Occupational Medicine, Department of Diagnostics and Public Health, University of Verona, Verona, Italy.
Andrei MalinovschiDepartment of Medical Sciences Clinical Physiology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4098-7765
University of Verona · ITUniversità degli Studi del Piemonte Orientale “Amedeo Avogadro” · ITUppsala University · SE

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundWork-related lower airway symptoms (WR-LAS), rhinitis (WRR), and asthma (WRA) are very common among bakers, due to airborne exposure to wheat flour and multigrain. Limited data is available regarding fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) in bakers in relation to respiratory burden and occupational sensitization in a real-life situation.

objectiveTo analyze FeNO levels in relation to WRR, WR-LAS, and WRA with regard to allergic sensitization to occupational allergen in bakers.

methodsCross-sectional, observational study of 174 bakers employed in traditional small bakeries in the Verona District. Subjects did FeNO measurements, spirometry, methacholine challenge, and skin prick test to common inhalant aeroallergens and bakeries occupational allergens.

resultsFeNO levels were higher in subjects sensitized to occupational allergens compared with bakers not sensitized to occupational allergens (22.8 ppb (18.9, 27.6) vs. 12.0 ppb (9.9, 14.5), p < 0.05). FeNO levels were higher in bakers with WRR and occupational sensitization (25.4 (20.6, 31.3)) than in bakers with WRR without occupational sensitization compared and bakers without respiratory burden (13.4 (9.6, 18.6) and 11.9 (9.8, 14.5), both p < 0.001). Similar findings were found for WR-LAS with regard to the same categories (31.2 (24.1, 40.4) vs 13.3 (11.4, 15.6) and 15.3 (8.5, 27.5), p < 0.001 and p = 0.005). Bakers with WRA, with or without occupational allergic sensitization, had higher levels of FeNO than bakers without respiratory burden (both p ≤ 0.001). These findings were consistent after adjustments for gender, age, height, weight, smoking, and sensitization to common inhalant aeroallergens and lung function.

conclusionsWRR and lower airway symptoms in bakers sensitized to occupational allergens relate to increased FeNO. Our study suggests that FeNO is associated with work-related allergic inflammation in occupational sensitized bakers, but future studies are needed to assess how FeNO should be integrated in the diagnostic work-up of occupational disease in bakers.

Indexed as

allergic sensitizationbakeryfractional exhaled nitric oxidelower airway symptomsoccupational exposurework-related asthmawork-related rhinitis

Identifiers

PMID34708942
PMCPMC8694179
OpenAlexW3205775783

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.