Health
New painless and reliable allergy test
Newswise — Allergies are widespread, but diagnosis is complex and, depending on the type of allergy, the prospects for successful treatment are not always clear. Skin tests to date have been unpleasant, time consuming and with certain risks of causing an allergic overreaction. Researchers at the University of Bern, the University of Inselspital, and the University of Bern Hospital have developed new tests that greatly simplify the diagnosis of allergies and reliably predict successful treatment.
About one-third of the world’s population suffers from one or more allergies, an increasing trend each year. The most common form of allergy is the so-called type I allergy, also known as immediate allergy. This includes, for example, allergic rhinitis (hay fever), allergic asthma, food allergies, or allergies to insect toxins, pollen, grass or house dust mites. This is an overreaction of the immune system to a really harmless foreign body (allergen), which usually occurs within seconds or minutes of contact with the allergen. Allergic symptoms can range from redness and swelling of the skin, itching and shortness of breath to anaphylactic shock and death.
Diagnosis of allergies is complicated. In addition to the medical history (history), test parameters, whose diagnostic values are often unclear, are taken into account and the patient undergoes a skin test. Such skin tests are unpleasant, sometimes painful, time consuming, and carry certain risks of causing an allergic overreaction. Allergies are treated with symptom control and, in severe cases, with immunotherapy. This includes injecting the allergen under the patient’s skin in an increased concentration for up to 5 years with the aim of reducing the patient’s susceptibility to the allergen. Immunotherapy is not always successful. Currently, there is no reliable way to predict the likelihood of success before ending such therapy.
A research group led by Alexander Eggel of the University of Bern’s Biomedical Research Division (DBMR) and the Inselspiral Rheumatology and Immunology Department of the University of Bern Hospital, and Thomas Kaufmann of the Institute of Pharmacology at the University of Bern are now on the one hand making a diagnosis. We have developed an allergy test that greatly simplifies and, on the other hand, reliably predicts the success of immunotherapy. This test recently Journal of Allergies and Clinical Immunology.
In vitro mast cells provide unprecedented reliability
Type I allergies occur when the body responds to allergens to produce immunoglobulin E (IgE) class antibodies. IgE antibodies are bound by IgE receptors on the surface of special immune cells in the body called mast cells. Subsequent contact with the same allergen activates mast cells and releases inflammatory mediators such as histamine and leukotrienes that cause allergic symptoms.
For their new allergy test, researchers led by Alexander Eggel and Thomas Kaufmann are able to generate almost any desired number of mature mast cells with the help of several molecular biology techniques. Developed culture-and this is a few days. These mast cells contain IgE receptors on their surface and behave very much like human mast cells when exposed to IgE and allergens. In the test, these mast cells are contacted with the serum of an allergic person, the IgE antibody from the serum is bound to the cells, and then stimulated with the allergen to be tested. At this point, cell activation can be quantified very easily and quickly using so-called flow cytometry.
“We were surprised and delighted to see our mast cells activated at almost 100%. As far as we know, no comparable cell line can be activated so well.” Explains Alexander Eggel. He adds: “Another important advantage is that the serum is very stable and can be cryopreserved for long periods of time, allowing for retrospective testing and research. In contrast, whole blood in other equivalent tests. It should be saved and processed within a few hours. “
High-throughput approach enables larger applications
To enable multiple tests, researchers have developed a high-throughput approach that can measure up to 36 conditions in a single tube. This allows you to test multiple allergens with one serum, or you can test multiple sera together for the same allergen. “Trained people can already use this procedure to perform about 200 tests per day, further optimizing the process,” reveals Noemi Zbären, lead author of the study. ..
Great potential for different applications
In addition to the initial diagnosis of allergies, researchers hope that this test will have other major uses. “Our tests are confident that within the first few months of immunotherapy, we can measure whether and to what extent the therapy is effective,” says Thomas Kaufman. “This will be an important aid in the decision-making process of allergists treating patients, whether or not it makes sense to continue treatment.” According to the researchers, this test is clinical. It also has great potential for successful treatment of new allergic drugs in trials, monitoring of duration of action, identification of possible allergic reactions and quality control of food.
And academic research should not be ignored either. “The new cell line and the already planned changes to the same cell line will address many of the open questions in allergy research,” explains Alexander Eggel.
This research was funded by grants from the Swiss National Science Foundation SNSF and the Swiss Innovation Agency Innosuisse.
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