title: The use of the MeDALL-chip to assess IgE sensitization: a new diagnostic tool for allergic disease?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Allergic sensitization is frequently present in asthma and rhinitis, but the role of specific immunoglobulin E (s-IgE) is not always clear. Multiple s-IgE analyses may provide insight into this relationship, thus a microarray chip was developed within the EU-funded MeDALL project. The main objective was to evaluate the performance of the MeDALL-chip compared to ImmunoCAP and skin prick test (SPT) in detecting allergic sensitization in children and secondarily to investigate the association to asthma and allergic rhinitis.
  
  
  METHODS
  From the 'Environment and Childhood Asthma Study', 265 children were investigated at 10 and 16 yr of age with clinical examination, interview, SPT, ImmunoCAP, and the MeDALL-chip including 152 allergen components in the analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Allergic sensitization at 10 yr was more frequently detected using the MeDALL-chip (38.1%) compared to the ImmunoCAP (32.8%) (p = 0.034) and SPT (25.5%) (p < 0.001), but no significant difference was seen at 16 yr (MeDALL-chip 49.8%, ImmunoCAP 48.6%, SPT 45.8%). The MeDALL-chip did not differ significantly from the ImmunoCAP or SPT in terms of detecting allergic sensitization in subjects with rhinitis or asthma at 10 or 16 yr.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The prevalence of allergic sensitization increased by all three diagnostic tests from 10 to 16 yr was similar by SPT and ImmunoCAP and significantly higher with the MeDALL-chip at 10 yr. All three tests were comparable for identification of allergic sensitization among children with current rhinitis or asthma.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Ingebjørg
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Skrindo
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathophysiology and Allergy Research, Centre of Pathophysiology, Infectology and Immunology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lupinek
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathophysiology and Allergy Research, Centre of Pathophysiology, Infectology and Immunology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Rudolf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Valenta
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.|Department of Pediatrics, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Vegard
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Hovland
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathophysiology and Allergy Research, Centre of Pathophysiology, Infectology and Immunology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pahr
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathophysiology and Allergy Research, Centre of Pathophysiology, Infectology and Immunology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Alexandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Baar
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.|Department of Pediatrics, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Kai-Håkon
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Carlsen
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.|Department of Pediatrics, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Petter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mowinckel
authors.affiliation: Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet and Sachs' Children and Youth Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Magnus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wickman
authors.affiliation: Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet and Sachs' Children and Youth Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Erik
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Melen
authors.affiliation: University Hospital Montpellier, Montpellier, France.|MACVIA-LR, Fighting Chronic Diseases for Healthy Ageing, Région Languedoc Roussillon, France.
authors.forename: Jean
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bousquet
authors.affiliation: Centre for Research in Environmental Epidemiology (CREAL), IMIM (Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute), Departament de Ciències Experimentals i de la Salut, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, CIBER Epidemiologìa y Salud Pùblica, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Josep M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Anto
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.|Department of Pediatrics, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Karin C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Lødrup Carlsen
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000485:Allergens / Q000276:immunology; D000818:Animals; D001249:Asthma / Q000175:diagnosis*; D002648:Child; D003955:Diagnostic Tests, Routine; D005062:European Union; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007073:Immunoglobulin E / Q000276:immunology*; D007391:International Cooperation; D008297:Male; D046228:Microarray Analysis; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011379:Prognosis; D065631:Rhinitis, Allergic / Q000175:diagnosis*; D012882:Skin Tests
chemical_list: D000485:Allergens; D007073:Immunoglobulin E
keywords: allergen components; allergy; allergy diagnosis; asthma; childhood allergy; microarray; rhinitis