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Molecular testing for allergies |
The technology which is enabling more accurate testing for peanut allergy should also be applicable to tests for other allergies as well. The Swedish pharmaceutical giant, Phadia, has developed a test which can identify the molecular components of proteins enabling them to identify which element of a protein may be casing a specific patient to react. Traditional allergy tests are based on allergen extracts composed of a number of different proteins. A positive test result thus means that the person has IgE antibodies in his/her blood to one or more of these allergen components, but it does not reveal to which ones. The new technology allows physicians to test for single allergen components. The physician can test with traditional extract-based ImmunoCAP® Complete Allergens first in order to confirm sensitization and then proceed with single components to gain deeper and more precise information, or use a combination of extract-based tests and components at once. With ImmunoCAP® ISAC he can get a patient's broad-spectrum molecular level profile, with more than 100 test results from a minute blood sample. This is a useful tool especially for more complex cases, with indistinct symptoms, inconsistent case history or unsatisfactory response to treatment. Courtesy of Medical News Today First Published in May 2010
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