A ratio of immune cells as prognostic indicator of therapeutic success in allergen-specific immunotherapy

A kit for predicting therapeutic success of an allergen-specific immunotherapy (AIT) in a patient suffering from or having a disposition to develop an allergic disease selected from hay fever, allergic rhinitis, allergic asthma, allergic conjunctivitis, food allergy and stinging insect hypersensitivity, said kit comprising:

• means to obtain a sample from said patient suffering from or having a disposition to develop an allergic disease, said sample being selected from whole blood, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), nasal cells obtained from nasal scrapings or a nasal biopsy of said patient, bronchial cells obtained from sputum, a lung biopsy or bronchial alveolar lavage fluid (BALF) of said patient;
• means to perform a quantitative determination of gene expression signatures or cell counts of interleukin-10 producing regulatory B-cells (IL-10+ Bregs) and interleukin-17 producing T-helper cells (Th17) in said sample, wherein said cell counts of IL-10+ Bregs and Th17 are relative cell counts, wherein said relative cell count of IL-10+ Bregs cells is determined as number of IL-10 Bregs with reference to the number of live CD19+ B-cells, and wherein said relative cell count of Th17 cells is determined as number or Th17 cells with reference to the number of live CD4+ CD3+ T-cells.