title: Laboratory diagnosis of hymenoptera venom allergy: comparative study between specific IgE, western blot and allergen leukocyte stimulation (CAST).
abstract: Allergy to hymenoptera venom is a classical IgE mediated disease with a potentially fatal course. Specific venom immunotherapy (SIT) is the most effective mean of treating this serious condition, after the diagnosis has been clearly established by a clinical history, in-vivo and in vitro tests. We have evaluated the usefulness of a cellular test (CAST) which is a recently developed ELISA method based on the evaluation of sulfidoleukotriene secretion by leukocytes stimulated with specific antigen. We also evaluated the correlation of CAST with skin tests, specific IgE (sIgE) and western blot for sIgE for hymenoptera venom sIgE. We have included in this study 14 patients, with a clinical history suggestive of hymenoptera venom allergy. None of them had previously been subjected to immunotherapy. A good correlation was obtained between skin tests, sIgE and western blot. However, there was no correlation between these methods and CAST. We conclude that the positivity of CAST method raises some questions about other mechanisms, which maybe non-IgE dependent. Although the number of patients in this study is quite small, the immunoblot analysis may be a valuable additional method in insect venom allergy.
authors.affiliation: CHIUL/Inst. Imunologio-Fac. Med. Lisboa-Lisboa, Portugal.
authors.forename: M C Pereira
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.forename: M L Palma
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Carlos
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Pedro
authors.forename: A G Palma
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Carlos
mesh_terms: D000918:Antibody Specificity; D001514:Bee Venoms / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000276:immunology / Q000494:pharmacology; D015153:Blotting, Western; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D006801:Humans; D006969:Hypersensitivity, Immediate / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology / Q000276:immunology; D007073:Immunoglobulin E / Q000276:immunology*; D015289:Leukotrienes / Q000378:metabolism*; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation / Q000187:drug effects*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012882:Skin Tests; D013045:Species Specificity; D014862:Wasp Venoms / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000276:immunology / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D001514:Bee Venoms; D015289:Leukotrienes; D014862:Wasp Venoms; D007073:Immunoglobulin E