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IgE testing in capillary blood
Steven O Stapel1, Petra E D Eysink, Janny Vrieze
1Sanquin CLB, Department of Allergy, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. s.stapel@sanquin.nl
Insights
Finger prick blood spot testing offers a less invasive alternative for allergy testing in children. This method provides results comparable to traditional serum testing, proving useful for diagnosing allergic sensitization.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Allergy and Immunology
- Clinical Diagnostics
- Immunopathology
Background:
- Traditional serologic immunoglobulin E (IgE) testing for allergies typically requires serum obtained via venepuncture.
- Venepuncture can be challenging and invasive, particularly in young children.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the feasibility of using paper-absorbed and eluted capillary blood from finger pricks for allergy testing in young children.
- To compare the accuracy of IgE testing using blood spots versus traditional serum samples.
Main Methods:
- Comparative IgE testing was performed on paired paper-absorbed capillary blood and serum samples.
- The practical applicability was assessed by analyzing blood spots from 640 children with prolonged coughing for IgE to airborne allergens.
Main Results:
- IgE testing using paper-absorbed/eluted blood yielded results virtually identical to serum testing (mean ratio for positive samples: 1.01).
- Blood spot testing identified inhalant allergen sensitization in 13% of preschool children with persistent cough.
Conclusions:
- Paper-absorbed and eluted capillary blood is a viable and accurate alternative for IgE allergy testing in pediatric populations.
- This less invasive method is practical for widespread use in assessing allergic sensitization in children, especially those with respiratory symptoms.
Abstract:
Serologic IgE testing is generally performed using serum, obtained by venepuncture. We tested whether paper-absorbed and eluted capillary blood, obtained by a less invasive method (finger prick) could be used for allergy testing in young children. This was performed by comparative IgE testing, using paper-absorbed blood/serum and serum. Practical applicability of the procedure was tested by assaying paper-absorbed and eluted blood, obtained from 640 children with complaints of prolonged coughing, for IgE to airborne allergens. We found that IgE testing, using paper-absorbed/eluted material and serum yields virtually identical results (mean ratio for positive samples: 1.01, 95% confidence interval: 0.58-1.75). Blood spot testing revealed that sensitization to inhalant allergens is not uncommon in preschool children (13% positive radioallergosorbent test [RAST] tests), which means that this procedure is a useful method for assaying allergic sensitization in children.
