| Affiliation: | a Rochester, Minn, Goteborg, Sweden, Kalamazoo, Mich, Baltimore, Md, Denver, Colo, Augusta, Ga, Charlottesville, Va, New York, NY, Washington, DC, Lenexa, Kan, and San Diego, Calif;b From the aAllergic Diseases Research Laboratory and the bDepartment of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, Mayo Clinic and Foundation, Rochester, Minn, the cDepartment of Clinical Immunology, University of Goteborg, Goteborg, Sweden, dPharmacia and Upjohn Diagnostics, Kalamazoo, Mich, the eDepartment of Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md, the fNational Jewish Medical and Research Center, Denver, Colo, the gSection of Allergy-Immunology, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, Ga, the hDivision of Asthma, Allergy, and Immunology, Department of Medicine, University of Virginia Health Sciences Center, Charlottesville, Va, the iJaffe Food Allergy Institute, Mt Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY, the jGeorgetown University School of Medicine, Washington, DC, the kIBT Reference Laboratory, University of Missouri–Kansas City School of Medicine, Lenexa, Kan, and the lDepartment of Allergy, Southern California Permanente Medical Group, San Diego, Calif |
| Abstract: | During the past several years, immunoassays for specific IgE antibodies have been refined to permit reporting results in mass units. Thus quantitative immunoassays for IgE antibodies may be an adjunct to skin tests. In cases of food allergy among children with atopic dermatitis, cutoff values for IgE antibody concentrations to egg, milk, peanut, and fish have been derived to provide 95% positive and 90% negative predictive values. Food-specific IgE antibody determinations can also be used to predict which food allergies are resolving spontaneously. Elevated egg-specific IgE antibody levels in infancy are associated with significantly increased risk for development of inhalant allergies later in childhood. In cases of inhalant allergy, specific IgE antibody levels correlate closely with results of inhalation challenge studies in cat-sensitive persons. Also, mite-specific IgE antibody levels correlate significantly with the mite allergen contents of reservoir dust in the homes of mite-sensitive persons. Immunoassays for quantitation of specific IgE antibodies may be used to document allergen sensitization over time and to evaluate the risk of reaction on allergen exposure. However, immunoassays and skin tests are not entirely interchangeable, and neither will replace the other in appropriate circumstances. (J Allergy Clin Immunol 2000;105:1077-84.) |
