Food specific IgE antibodies: a comparative study of AlaSTAT and Pharmacia RAST Phadebas CAP systems in 49 patients with food allergies.

Forty-nine sera from patients with food allergies confirmed by challenge and of 14 with suspected allergy were assayed with the DPC AlaSTAT liquid phase EIA and the Phadebas RAST CAP radioimmunoassay (RIA). Twenty-two foods were tested (four animals, 18 vegetables). Controls were performed on nonatopic subjects (N = 8). Specificity was 100%. Concordance RAST CAP/AlaSTAT was 79.6%; prick tests/AlaSTAT: 76%; prick tests/RAST CAP: 73.9%. AlaSTAT detected specific IgE even in sera with low total IgE (< 60 KU/L), while RAST CAP was inconclusive. Dilution studies and reproducibility were excellent. AlaSTAT EIA compares favorably with the Phadebas RAST CAP RIA for measurement of food-specific IgE antibodies.