Issues of specific in vitro allergological diagnosis of atopic conditions

There is a steady increase in the prevalence of allergic diseases of atopic origin worldwide, e.g., atopic bronchial asthma (ABA) and atopic dermatitis (AD). Identification of a causally significant allergen in allergic patients is crucial for the diagnosis, therapy and prevention of allergic diseases. Korea has developed the Allergy-Q^® multiplex test to detect specific IgE. Allergy-Q^® is based on an immunoblotting method using a nitrocellulose membrane as a solid phase for allergen immobilization and can detect allergen-specific IgE simultaneously to 107 allergens. Our aim was to conduct a comparative analysis for detectable allergen-specific IgE antibodies to food, fungal, pollen, household, epidermal allergens in blood serum by immunoblotting method using the Allergy-Q^® test system in patients with atopic dermatitis, atopic bronchial asthma and psoriasis.

The study included patients with atopic dermatitis (AD, group 1, n = 9), atopic bronchial asthma (ABA, group 2, n = 14) and psoriasis (PS, group 3, n = 17). The concentration of total immunoglobulin E and allergen-specific immunoglobulins of class E in blood serum to 32 most common food, fungal, pollen, household, epidermal allergens was determined by the immunoblotting method using the Allergy-Q^® test system (Korea).

We have found that sensitization of atopic origin was observed in all patients with AD (n = 9), in 85.7% (n = 12) of patients with atopic bronchial asthma, and in 47.1% (n = 8) of patients with psoriasis. Polyvalent sensitization was shown to prevail in all groups of the examined persons. When studying the spectrum of sensitization to food allergens, a significantly increased frequency of positive reactions to cow’s milk protein was found in the group of patients with AAA as compared with AD and PS groups. Among all studied groups, sensitization to the Alternaria fungi was found at the highest frequency in the group of patients with ABA. Sensitization to ragweed pollen was very common in all groups of patients. Sensitization to household and epidermal allergens in the groups with AD and AAA was noted for all studied allergens with the highest positivity rates for the feline epithelium and dog dander.

In the present study, the Allergy-Q^® system showed an agreement with preliminary data from a specific allergological examinations. This relationship suggests a potential for usage of the Allergy-Q^® immunoblotting method as a highly effective alternative to other in vitro tests for diagnosing atopy. An advantage of the Allergy-Q^® Multiplex Serum Allergen-Specific IgE Detection Kit is a short processing time, small amount of blood sample, and broader clinical information on the causative allergens.