Specific probiotics alleviate allergic rhinitis during the birch pollen season

Table 3 Serum immune markers; before, during and after the birch pollen season, median

	March		April/May		June
	Placebo	Probiotic	Placebo	Probiotic	Placebo	Probiotic
Specific IgE birch pollen (kU/L)	26.0 (18.0-45.8)	25.5 (15.5-54.0)	-	-	150.00 (36.0-150.0)1	150.00 (150.0-150.0)1
Blood eosinophils (109/L)	0.30 (0.24-0.44)	0.18 (0.12-0.34)	-	-	0.40 (0.25-0.72)1	0.42 (0.28-069)1
IL-4 (pg/mL)	2.20 (1.5-2.8)	1.70 (0.0-2.2)	1.70 (0.8-2.2)	1.7 (1.3-2.1)	-	-
IL-5 (pg/mL)	19.6 (0.0-69.7)	9.10 (0.0-24.2)	14.70 (0.0-28.3)	18.4 (0.0-60.2)	-	-
IL-6 (pg/mL)	16.6 (5.7-38.3)	4.70 (3.0-11.4)3	4.20 (2.3-7.3)1	3.0 (2.0-3.9)1	-	-
IL-10 (pg/mL)	1.60 (1.4-1.9)	1.50 (0.0-2.1)	1.40 (0.0-1.8)2	0.0 (0.0-1.5)	-	-
TNF-α (pg/mL)	7.70 (3.9-13.5)	3.50 (2.5-5.2)3	2.90 (2.3-4.8)1	2.5 (2.1-3.2)1	-	-
TGF-β2 (pg/mL)	242 (0.0-342)	247 (0.0-369)	213.6 (0.0-314.3)	267.9 (0.0-445.9)	-	-
CD-14 (&mgr;g/mL)	1.20 (1.1-1.3)	1.20 (1.1-1.3)	-	-	1.20 (1.1-1.3)	1.10 (1.1-1.3)

¹Significantly different from previous time point; P < 0.01.

²Significantly different from previous time point; P < 0.05.

³Significantly different between groups; P < 0.05. -: No sample collected. Data are expressed as median (interquartile range).