Table 2.

Circulating blood cell numbers before (pre) and after (post) airway allergen challenge with house dust mite extract.

	placebo			low dose SLIT			high dose SLIT			Total
	group 1			group 2			group 3
	n = 22			n = 29			n = 26			n = 77
	pre	post	p	pre	post	p	pre	post	p	pre	post	p
Erythrocytes x10 12 /l	5.06 ± 0.46	4.96 ± 0.46	*	4.66 ± 0.48	4.58 ± 0.47	**	4,80 ± 0,29	4,76 ± 0,31	*	4.83 ± 0.44	4.75 ± 0.44	***
Hemoglobin g/dL	14.78 ± 1.30	14.60 ± 1.22	n.s.	13.60 ± 1.35	13.45 ± 1.44	*	14,20 ± 1,04	14,20 ± 1,12	n.s.	14.14 ± 1.32	14.03 ± 1.35	*
Hematocrit	0.44 ± 0.03	0.43 ± 0.03	*	0.41 ± 0.04	0.40 ± 0.04	**	0,43 ± 0,03	0,43 ± 0,03	n.s.	0.43 ± 0.04	0.42 ± 0.04	***
MCV fl/cell	87.59 ± 5.54	87.86 ± 5.14	n.s.	88.52 ± 6.05	88.45 ± 6.46	n.s.	89,58 ± 3,62	89,50 ± 3,89	n.s.	88.61 ± 5.19	88.64 ± 5.30	n.s.
MCH pg/cell	29.23 ± 2.11	29.59 ± 2.36	*	29.34 ± 2.04	29.38 ± 1.99	n.s.	29,73 ± 1,69	30,04 ± 1,64	*	29.44 ± 1.94	29.66 ± 1.99	**
MCHC g/dl	33.41 ± 1.00	33.68 ± 1.62	n.s.	33.07 ± 0.80	33.34 ± 0.81	n.s.	33,04 ± 0,92	33,31 ± 0,97	n.s.	33.16 ± 0.90	33.43 ± 1.14	**
Leukocytes x10 9 /l	6.15 ± 1.28	7.40 ± 1.89	**	6.55 ± 1,80	7.59 ± 1.84	**	5,93 ± 1,49	7,25 ± 1,78	***	6.23 ± 1.57	7.42 ± 1.82	***
Absolute Counts (x10 9 /l)
Segmented	3.13 ± 0.98	4.46 ± 1.75	***	3.71 ± 1.59	4.51 ± 1.52	**	3,32 ± 1,07	4,48 ± 1,52	***	3.41 ± 1.28	4.49 ± 1.57	***
Eosinophils	0.29 ± 0.30	0.25 ± 0.30	*	0.27 ± 0.21	0.26 ± 0.18	n.s.	0,21 ± 0,10	0,20 ± 0,11	n.s.	0.26 ± 0.21	0.24 ± 0.20	n.s.
Basophils	0.05 ± 0.03	0.04 ± 0.02	n.s.	0.05 ± 0.02	0.04 ± 0.02	n.s.	0,05 ± 0,03	0,05 ± 0,03	n.s.	0.05 ± 0.03	0.04 ± 0.02	n.s.
Lymphocytes	2.22 ± 0.55	2.17 ± 0.42	n.s.	2.05 ± 0.69	2.22 ± 0.71	n.s.	1,91 ± 0,48	2,03 ± 0,48	n.s.	2.05 ± 0.59	2.14 ± 0.56	n.s.

Values present mean ± SD. *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001; n.s. not significant;

SLIT sublingual immunotherapy, MCV mean corpuscular volume, MCH mean corpuscular hemoglobin, MCHC mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration.