Tang R B, Chen B S, Chen S J, Wu K G, Hwang B
Department of Pediatrics, Veterans General Hospital-Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C.
Zhonghua Yi Xue Za Zhi (Taipei). 1996 Mar;57(3):219-23.
This study was carried out to compare two techniques used to determine the food specific IgE antibody.
Thirty-four allergic patients were evaluated for most common food IgE antibodies by multiple allergosorbent chemiluminescent assay (MAST-CLA). IgE antibodies to eight of these food allergens were also measured by Pharmacia CAP (CAP) test.
The food specific IgE showed good agreement between MAST-CLA and CAP (kappa = 0.3-0.77). The sensitivity of MAST-CLA assay for food specific IgE antibody was variable comparing with that of CAP system. The accuracy ranged from 0.76 to 0.97. The agreement between the results of MAST-CLA and skin test was variable (kappa = 0.03-0.58). The agreement was poor in wheat, peanut and soybean (kappa = 0.03-0.12). Similar result between CAP and skin test was also obtained (kappa = 0.06-0.82). The agreement was poor in wheat (kappa = 0.06) and milk (kappa = 0.15).
Different results might be related to quality of the extract, how they are performed in vitro test and difference of correspondent allergens employed in the tests.
