Pollen cross-reactivity. Can we establish a link between the <em>in vitro</em> results and the clinical situation?

The article presents information on a survey that was undertaken to describe what characterizes in vitro the clinically relevant cross-reactivities in birch-pollen-sensitized patients and the severity of symptoms. The survey also probed whether there is a correlation between the magnitude of the IgE response to basic proteins, apple, hazelnut, celery and carrot and the clinical situation. Results of the survey revealed that Birch-pollen-allergic patients with symptoms after eating apple, hazelnut and carrot showed significantly higher IgE levels to the respective food items than asymptomatic patients. There were no significant differences in the IgE level between patients with localized or systemic symptoms.