Korean J Lab Med.  2009 Oct;29(5):465-472. 10.3343/kjlm.2009.29.5.465.

Allergen Specific IgE Measurement with Polycheck Allergy: Comparison of Three Multiple Allergen Simultaneous Tests

• Jang WR
• Nahm CH
• Kim JH
• Lim DH
• Jang TY
• Moon YS
• Kim JJ

• KMID: 1077424
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3343/kjlm.2009.29.5.465

Abstract

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.

Keyword

Polycheck Allergy; Multiple allergen simultaneous test (MAST); Skin prick test

MeSH Terms

Adolescent
Adult
Allergens/*immunology
Area Under Curve
Child
Child, Preschool
Female
Humans
Hypersensitivity, Immediate/*diagnosis
Immunoblotting/*methods
Immunoglobulin E/*blood
Male
Middle Aged
ROC Curve
Reagent Kits, Diagnostic
Sensitivity and Specificity
Skin Tests/methods

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