In vitro allergy testing

Along with the history, skin tests and provocation tests, in vitro test procedures are essential for the adequate care for patients with allergies. While serological investigations of immediate-type allergic reactions primarily detect allergen-specific IgE antibodies, basophil activation tests with different read-out parameters are available for cellular diagnosis of immediate-type reaction patterns. If clinically necessary, further immunological methods (i.e. immunoblots, lymphocyte transformation tests) can be employed. New options are provided by allergen microarray technology, which makes it possible to determine not only the specific antigenic protein but also to analyze different epitopes.