ELISA in diagnosis of respiratory allergy. A comparison with RAST and skin tests.

An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), employing beta-galactosidase conjugated anti-IgE, was used for the determination of specific IgE antibodies to common inhalant allergens (Dermatophagoides pt. and f., Parietaria and four grass pollens) in serum samples from 82 adult patients with asthma and/or rhinitis. A total of 194 analysis were carried out and the results were compared with those of skin tests and RAST. The correlation coefficient (r) between ELISA and RAST results was high (r = 0.95); the correlation between skin tests and ELISA (r = 0.93) was greater than that between skin tests and RAST (r = 0.90). No significant differences were found among the allergens used. We conclude that the version of ELISA used develops an overall good correlation with skin tests and RAST and seems to provide a satisfactory alternative to RAST for allergy diagnosis.