Semiquantitative determination of serum IgE by reagent strips: PRIST/TOTALE correlation

Due to its great simplicity, the determination of total and specific IgE with a reagent strip could be a screening method for in vitro allergy diagnosis if a correlation with classical techniques is verified. The TOTALE reagent strip for semiquantitative determination of total serum IgE is one of these methods and unites the now classical foundation (anti-IgE/IgE/anti-IgE labeled sandwich) and the ease of the reagent strip technique. In a preliminary evaluation of these methods we compared the PRIST isotopic method to the TOTALE one for serum total IgE. In summary, the most relevant consequences from this comparison are the following ones: a) The initial sample is the same for both: serum. b) No additional equipment or materials other than the serum sample are needed for TOTALE practising. c) The reagent strip has a lower cost and is faster than the PRIST method. d) Correlation coefficients were 0.89 (n = 35) in the range of measurement under study and 0.93 (n = 23) in the range from 5 to 200 U/L.