Sohn M H, Lee S Y, Kim K-E
Department of Pediatrics and Institute of Allergy, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Allergy. 2003 Dec;58(12):1308-10. doi: 10.1046/j.1398-9995.2003.00339.x.
Buckwheat (BW) is considered to be one of the most important food allergens, and positive skin tests are found in about 5% of Koreans. We investigated the positive and negative predictive values of BW-specific IgE in subjects with a BW allergy in order to reduce the need for buckwheat challenge, which can be more riskier than other causes of food allergies.
Twenty-eight BW allergic subjects with symptoms after BW Open food challenge and 16 asymptomatic control subjects with positive skin test to BW were recruited. Serum samples from all patients were analyzed for BW-specific IgE antibodies using the Pharmacia CAP System.
According to the receiver operator characteristic (ROC) analysis, the optimal cutoff level of BW-specific IgE, as the definitions of serum BW-specific IgE positive, was 1.26 kUA/l. With this selected cutoff level, the sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values were 93.10, 93.33, 79.75 and 97.96%, respectively.
The use of the optimal cutoff level, 1.26 kUA/l, that simultaneously maximizes sensitivity and specificity, would be helpful for avoiding unnecessary risky challenge in children with a strong clinical history and skin test responses.
荞麦（BW）被认为是最重要的食物过敏原之一，约5%的韩国人皮肤试验呈阳性。我们调查了BW特异性IgE在BW过敏受试者中的阳性和阴性预测值，以减少荞麦激发试验的必要性，该试验可能比其他食物过敏原因更具风险。
招募了28名在BW开放食物激发试验后出现症状的BW过敏受试者和16名对BW皮肤试验呈阳性的无症状对照受试者。使用Pharmacia CAP系统分析所有患者的血清样本中的BW特异性IgE抗体。
根据受试者工作特征（ROC）分析，作为血清BW特异性IgE阳性定义的BW特异性IgE的最佳截断水平为1.26 kUA/l。采用该选定的截断水平时，敏感性、特异性、阳性和阴性预测值分别为93.10%、93.33%、79.75%和97.96%。
使用同时使敏感性和特异性最大化的最佳截断水平1.26 kUA/l，将有助于避免对有强烈临床病史和皮肤试验反应的儿童进行不必要的风险激发试验。
