Oral birch pollen immunotherapy with apples: Results of a phase II clinical pilot study.

Background: Seventy percent of patients suffering from birch pollen allergy (BPA) develop a pollen-related food allergy (prFA), especially to apples, due to a clinically relevant cross-reactivity between the major allergen in birch Bet v 1 and Mal d 1 in apples. Therefore allergen-specific immunotherapy with fresh apples (AITA) could be a promising natural treatment of both BPA and prFA.

Objective: To assess the clinical efficacy of immunotherapy by daily apple consumption for patients with BPA and prFA.