Inhalant allergens in asthmatic children in Taiwan: comparison evaluation of skin testing, radioallergosorbent test and multiple allergosorbent chemiluminescent assay for specific IgE.

The multiple allergosorbent chemiluminescent assay (MAST-CLA) is a method for measuring total and allergen-specific IgE in human serum by a chemiluminescent immuno-enzymatic system. To compare the results of MAST tests with those of radioallergosorbent (RAST) and skin tests as an adjunct to the diagnosis of inhalant allergens in Taiwan, 195 asthmatic children, aged 5 to 15 years, were studied. All MAST tests had valid positive and negative control threads. The most important allergens in our patients were the two mite species: Dermatophagoid pteronyssinus and Dermatophagoid farinae (87.5% and 82.1%, respectively). There were also large responses (MAST-CLA class > or = 2) to the cockroach mix (28.45%), Alternaria (24.3%), and Eucalyptus (32.6%). The individual efficiency percentage between MAST-CLA and skin tests was D. pteronyssinus 91%, D. farinae 88%, cockroach mix 85%, feather mix 75%, dog dander 64%, Candida 75%, Aspergillus 79%, Alternaria 88%, ragweed mix 62% and Eucalyptus 76%. Comparison of the results of allergen-specific IgE measured by MAST-CLA and RAST were also significantly correlated for all four allergens (D. farinae, Candida, Alternaria and grass mix, r = 0.79-0.92). MAST-CLA was randomly duplicated and proven reproducible in 89% of the tests. Changes between positive and negative results occurred in only 3.6% of the tests. MAST-CLA is a simple in vitro test for specific IgE to 35 allergens, which compares favorably with RAST. It is concluded that MAST-CLA and RAST are similar in their ability to measure allergen-specific IgE, and correlate equally well with skin tests and clinical history in asthmatic children.