Blood Test Pinpoints Allergens

A specific test for IgE antigens in a small blood sample will help asthmatics identify the allergens that trigger their attacks. Specific IgE is produced by sensitization to an allergen and increases with exposure to that allergen.

The ImmunoCap specific IgE blood test, developed by Pharmacia Diagnostics (Uppsala, Sweden), has been cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a quantitative test for pinpointing allergens.

A study presented at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology (AAAAI) in Miami (FL, USA) in March 2006 evaluated pharmacy and coding records of 202 adults (ages 19–85) who were treated for asthma in the emergency department (ED). Patients with asthma were stratified into asthma-severity categories of intermittent or persistent. Intermittent asthma patients were defined as those who had low usage of asthma controller and reliever medications, or less than four asthma attacks in the last year prior to their ED visit. These patients accounted for 48% of asthma-related visits to the ED.

Dr. Leonard Fromer, a family physician with a clinical practice specialty in allergy and asthma, and an assistant clinical professor at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Medicine (USA), noted, "Knowledge gained from a specific IgE diagnostic tool like ImmunoCap allows asthma patients to make necessary adjustments to their environment to decrease their risk for asthma attacks and subsequent hospitalizations”.



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