Fig. 4.

Changes in allergen-specific skin- and basophil-reactivity and in sIgE-levels. Relative changes (y-axes: fold changes) of (a) total wheal-areas from skin prick testing (SPT) and (b) of basophil-sensitivity (CD203c BAT – basophil activation test measuring CD203c upregulation; AUC – area under the curve) are shown as scatter plots for control and follow-up visits (x-axes) for birch (left) and grass pollen allergens (right). Results from individual subjects are colour-coded and displayed for the apheresis (filled circles) and for the control group (open boxes) with the respective median levels indicated by horizontal black lines for each group and visit. (c) Relative changes of sIgE-levels to birch (left) and grass (right) are displayed for the same subjects from (a) and (b) (top-charts: apheresis group, bottom-charts: control group). Weeks of study duration are shown underneath the x-axes with birch- and grass seasons highlighted by yellow boxes and treatment weeks in purple. Dashed horizontal lines indicate baseline levels. AV – visit apheresis group; CV – visit control group.