Isolation and quantitation of serum IgE levels by high-performance immunoaffinity chromatography.

High-performance immunoaffinity chromatography on monoclonal antibodies coupled to protein A-coated glass beads is a method for the rapid isolation and quantitation of immunoglobulin E (IgE) from the serum of both adult and pediatric patients. The technique is as sensitive as most immunoassays but takes less than an hour to perform. In addition to measuring total IgE in both plasma and serum, the technique provides biologically active, affinity-isolated IgE, which can be used for other clinical and research studies.