Iron and Pollen Allergy in Women

Inclusion Criteria: * Participants will be healthy premenopausal women over 18 years of age. Allergic participants should have been diagnosed with allergic rhinitis against birch and/or grass pollen. Exclusion Criteria: * Subjects with co-morbidities such as diabetes mellitus, disorders of the liver including hemochromatosis or kidney, autoimmune and metabolic diseases or malignancies or who use medications (e.g. antibiotics, PPIs) that influence the iron, inflammatory or microbial status will be excluded. Further exclusion criteria are pregnancy, lactation, zinc, and iron supplementation and smoking. Subjects with a history of major bleeding (including trauma, surgery, other major blood loss) within the last 2 years and blood transfusion within the last 2 years, or with a history of significant breakthrough bleeding will be excluded. Volunteers will be asked to cease blood donation at least three months before recruitment. Allergics with a history of an allergen-induced anaphylactic shock or with severe, uncontrolled asthma who in the last two years have received allergen immunotherapy or an anti-IgE therapy will be excluded.