[Allergen specific IgE measurement with Polycheck Allergy: comparison of three multiple allergen simultaneous tests].
BACKGROUND
The in vivo skin prick test (SPT) or in vitro detection of allergen specific IgE in serum is commonly used for the diagnosis of allergic disease. In this study, we evaluated the usefulness of a new multiple allergen simultaneous test (MAST) immunoblot assay, Polycheck Allergy (Biocheck GmbH, Germany).


METHODS
A total of 100 patients with clinical findings of allergic diseases were tested by SPT and three different MAST assays: Polycheck Allergy (Biocheck GmbH, Germany), MAST CLA allergy system (Hitachi Chemical Diagnostics, USA) and Allergy Screen (R-biopharm, Germany). The results of MAST assays were compared with those of SPT.


RESULTS
Concordance rates of MAST assays with SPT were 79-100% for Polycheck Allergy, 88.9-100% for MAST CLA and 72.7-98.3% for Allergy Screen. In ROC curve analysis, significant differences were observed in four of 25 allergens analysed: Alternaria, Birch, Hazelnut and D. farinae. For Alternaria and Birch, Polycheck Allergy (P<0.001) and Allergy Screen (P=0.0075) showed significantly larger AUC (area under the curve) than MAST CLA. For Hazelnut, Polycheck Allergy (P=0.0021), and for D. farinae, MAST CLA (P=0.015) showed significantly larger AUCs than the other two tests. The ROC analysis for overall 16 food allergens showed better results in Polycheck Allergy (P<0.001), and that for overall 21 inhalants did not show significant differences among three MAST assays (P>0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
Since Polycheck Allergy showed similar or superior result to the others, it can be used for the detection of allergen specific IgE antibodies.
Jang
Woo Ri
WR
Department of Laboratory Medicine, Inha University, Incheon, Korea.
Nahm
Chung Hyun
CH
Kim
Jung Hee
JH
Lim
Dae Hyun
DH
Jang
Tae Young
TY
Moon
Yeon Sook
YS
Kim
Jin Ju
JJ
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000485:Allergens / Q000276:immunology*; D019540:Area Under Curve; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006969:Hypersensitivity, Immediate / Q000175:diagnosis*; D015151:Immunoblotting / Q000379:methods*; D007073:Immunoglobulin E / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012372:ROC Curve; D011933:Reagent Kits, Diagnostic; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012882:Skin Tests / Q000379:methods
D000485:Allergens; D011933:Reagent Kits, Diagnostic; D007073:Immunoglobulin E