[Clinical performance of the basophil degranulation test. Correlation with other diagnostic technics in allergy (II)]

Although the clinical history is the fundamental method for the diagnosis of reaginic diseases, the use of complementary techniques that gears on the detection of the humoral and cellular effector cells intervening in such affectation is necessary. Thus, we can detect the existence of specific IgE. It can be joined to the basophil membrane by means of techniques "in vivo" as in cutaneous tests, or by means of techniques "in vitro" through cellular techniques in which we apply a biochemical pattern (release of histamine) or a morphological one (HBDT). It can also be free in serum by means of the P-K test or "in vitro" by means of techniques of double antibody. We can also determine, by this last technique, the quantity of the total IgE in serum. In the present work, we review the human basophil degranulation test (HBDT) and its correlation with the prick test, the peripheral blood eosinophilia, the total serum IgE quantification by enzymatic technique and the specific IgE detection by isotope method. In our technique the test was considered positive when the degranulation index with known allergen concentration was greater than 30% for pollens and greater than 25% for D. pteronyssinus with a p less than 0.001. As reported in a previous work, we explain that the normal limits are slightly inferior to those used by some other authors, because in our series, the degranulation average of healthy controls is inferior to that reported by those authors which makes us consider the convenience that the normal limits of degranulation index should be established in a particular way by each technique and allergen.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)