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Blood Test Tracker

Olive Tree IgE

Measures IgE antibodies to olive tree pollen in your blood. A detectable result means you are sensitized, which is not the same as an allergy.

AI-verified against cited sources. Awaiting expert reviewAlso called t9, t009LOINC 6192-9

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What it is

The olive tree (Olea europaea) is grown widely around the Mediterranean, and its pollen is one of the main causes of seasonal respiratory allergy there. This test measures IgE, a type of antibody, to an extract of olive tree pollen (ImmunoCAP t9). Results come in kilounits per liter (kU/L), and many labs also print a class from 0 to 6.

Why it matters

Olive pollen can cause hay fever symptoms such as sneezing, a runny nose and itchy eyes, and in some people it is linked to asthma. Having IgE to olive pollen does not prove that olive trees are causing your symptoms. Olive is related to trees such as ash, privet and lilac, and their pollen shares proteins, so a positive result can come from those trees instead. In a study near Milan, an area almost free of olive and ash trees, 36% of 300 pollen-allergic people had positive skin tests to olive pollen. Your symptom pattern, your surroundings and the time of year matter too.

If it’s high

A level above your lab's range means your immune system has made IgE against olive tree pollen. This is called sensitization. In some people it goes along with hay fever or asthma symptoms in olive pollen season. Others have no symptoms. The number does not say how strong your symptoms are.

Common causes

  • Sensitization without symptoms
  • A true olive pollen allergy (hay fever)
  • Cross-reacting IgE from related trees such as ash, privet and lilac, or from grass or birch-family pollen proteins
  • A very high total IgE (above about 2,500 kU/L), which can cause a false-positive reading

What can help

  • Talk with a clinician about whether your symptoms follow olive pollen season where you live
  • Ask whether a skin test or a more specific test, such as Ole e 1 (the main olive allergen), would add information
  • If you have not been near olive trees, ask whether other trees in the olive family, such as ash or privet, could be involved

Usual ranges

What labs print as the reference range, by who was tested. Ranges differ a little between labs, so the range on your own report is the one your result is judged against.

For adults: 0–0.09 kU/L. Source: ARUP Laboratories, Mayo Clinic Laboratories, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, International Archives of Allergy and Immunology, Allergy, European Annals of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Journal of Investigational Allergology and Clinical Immunology, MedlinePlus, National Library of Medicine.

ImmunoCAP IgE classes (ARUP labels; Mayo Clinic Laboratories class edges)

  • Class 0: no significant level detectedbelow 0.1 kU/L
  • Class 0/1: clinical relevance undetermined0.1 to under 0.35 kU/L
  • Class 1: low0.35 to under 0.7 kU/L
  • Class 2: moderate0.7 to under 3.5 kU/L
  • Class 3: high3.5 to under 17.5 kU/L
  • Class 4: very high17.5 to under 50 kU/L
  • Class 5: very high50 to under 100 kU/L
  • Class 6: very high100 and above kU/L

What can affect your result

  • Season and where you live or travel, since olive pollen is mostly a problem in Mediterranean countries where olive trees are widely grown
  • Allergy to related trees (ash, privet, lilac), which share pollen proteins with olive
  • Cypress pollen allergy, which some people have along with olive allergy
  • A very high total IgE (above about 2,500 kU/L) can cause false-positive results
  • The lab and test brand, because results from different systems are not directly comparable
  • Where a lab draws its cutoff (0.10 or 0.35 kU/L)
  • A very high total IgE (above about 2,500 kU/L) can cause false-positive results through nonspecific binding (Mayo Clinic Laboratories).
  • Antihistamines do not affect this blood test the way they affect skin-prick testing (NIAID 2010), but follow your clinician's instructions about any medicine before the test.
  • Different labs and test brands give different numbers for the same blood sample, so compare results from the same lab and system.

When to talk to a clinician

Get urgent medical help for severe trouble breathing, wheezing or chest tightness that does not ease, or swelling of the lips or throat. Otherwise, talk with a clinician if you have a lasting stuffy nose, sneezing or itchy eyes that seem tied to pollen season, even if this result is in the usual range.

Questions you could ask

  • Are there other pollens worth checking, such as grasses or cypress?
  • Do my symptoms follow olive pollen season?
  • Could related trees, such as ash or privet, explain my result?
  • Would a more specific test, such as Ole e 1, add useful information?
  • My result is in the usual range but I still have symptoms in pollen season. What should we look at next?

Questions people ask

I do not live near olive trees. Why is my olive IgE raised?

Olive belongs to a family of trees that includes ash, privet and lilac, and these pollens share proteins, so IgE made against one can bind another. In a study near Milan, where there are almost no olive or ash trees, 36% of 300 pollen-allergic people had positive skin tests to olive pollen. Most of them were sensitized to several pollens. Your clinician can help work out what is behind your result.

What is Ole e 1?

Ole e 1 is the main olive pollen allergen. In studies, more than 70% of people with olive pollen allergy had IgE to it. A separate Ole e 1 test can show whether your IgE is aimed at this olive protein.

Does a positive olive tree IgE mean I am allergic to olive pollen?

Not by itself. The test shows that your immune system has made IgE to olive pollen, which is called sensitization. MedlinePlus notes that the amount of IgE does not predict how serious an allergy may be. Your clinician looks at the result with your symptoms and the time of year.

Show the science and sources

For clinicians and researchers

Quantitative IgE to an olive tree (Olea europaea) pollen extract (ImmunoCAP t9) by fluoroenzyme immunoassay. ARUP and Mayo both list LOINC 6192-9 (Olive Pollen IgE). The ImmunoCAP Specific IgE system reports up to 100 kUA/L with a limit of quantitation of 0.1 kUA/L, and its maker recommends a 0.35 kUA/L cutoff while telling each lab to set its own range (FDA review K173726). Olive pollen is one of the most important causes of seasonal respiratory allergy in Mediterranean countries. Eight allergens, Ole e 1 to Ole e 8, had been characterized by 2001. Ole e 1 is the most frequent sensitizer, affecting more than 70% of patients with olive pollinosis, and the prevalence of the others depends on the region; they include profilin (Ole e 2), calcium-binding proteins (Ole e 3 and Ole e 8), superoxide dismutase (Ole e 5) and a lipid transfer protein (Ole e 7), and related allergens occur in grass and birch-family pollen (Rodriguez 2001). Olive, ash, privet and lilac pollen extracts cross-react through six shared IgE-binding bands, and the authors suggested that olive extract alone could be used for diagnosis in Oleaceae pollen allergy (Pajaron 1997). Near Milan, an area almost free of olive and ash trees, 107 of 300 pollen-allergic patients (36%) had positive skin tests to olive pollen, 63% of them were multi-sensitized, and 32 of 46 tested (70%) had IgE to Ole e 1; the author suggested exposure to privet pollen might be one source (Asero 2011). In patients sensitized to both cypress and olive, Ole e 1 and the cypress allergen Cup s 1 were the major allergens, and Ole e 1-like proteins were found in cypress pollen (Alonso-Diaz 2024). Cutoffs and predictive values do not transfer between assay brands (NIAID 2010). Mayo notes false positives can occur above about 2,500 kU/L total IgE.

LOINC 6192-9 (primary). Specimen: serum.

Sources

  1. Allergen, Tree, Olive Tree (ARUP test 0055155), ARUP Laboratories
  2. Olive Tree, IgE, Serum (test ID OLIV), Mayo Clinic Laboratories
  3. 510(k) Decision Memorandum K173726: ImmunoCAP Specific IgE (ImmunoCAP Allergen f447, rAra h 6, Peanut), U.S. Food and Drug Administration (2018)
  4. Guidelines for the diagnosis and management of food allergy in the United States: report of the NIAID-sponsored expert panel, Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (2010)
  5. Allergy Blood Test, MedlinePlus, National Library of Medicine
  6. The spectrum of olive pollen allergens, International Archives of Allergy and Immunology (2001)
  7. Cross-reactivity of Olea europaea with other Oleaceae species in allergic rhinitis and bronchial asthma, Allergy (1997)
  8. Analysis of hypersensitivity to oleaceae pollen in an olive-free and ash-free area by commercial pollen extracts and recombinant allergens, European Annals of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (2011)
  9. Allergy to Cypress and Olive Pollen: Clinical Phenotypes and Allergen Recognition, Journal of Investigational Allergology and Clinical Immunology (2024)

AI-verified against cited sources. Awaiting expert review. Last reviewed 2026-10-03. How we build and check these pages.

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