A method for the analysis of milk and egg allergens for the atopy patch test.

Abstract

The patch test with food antigens (atopy patch test, APT) has been reported as a more specific method than prick or RAST for the early detection of cow's milk and/or egg sensitizations in children. Standardization of APT extracts is a major issue on the road towards full clinical exploitation of this assay. Here, we used sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) to characterize sensitivity and specificity of commercial preparations of APT for milk and egg allergies, which are expected to improve the reliability of this test, when compared with fresh food allergen sources. We found that: (i) SDS-PAGE is an appropriate technique for quality control of APT and (ii) commercial milk and egg APT are equivalent to fresh food preparations in terms of allergen content. Clinical trials aimed at characterizing sensitivity and specificity of APT in the diagnosis of food allergy in children will benefit from this technique.

• Authors: Cinzia Ballabio, Alessandro Fiocchi, Alberto Martelli, Silvia Pecora, Samuele E Burastero, Patrizia Restani
• Journal: Experimental dermatology (Exp Dermatol) Vol. 18 Issue 10 Pg. 886-8 (Oct 2009) ISSN: 1600-0625 [Electronic] Denmark
• PMID: 19469897 (Publication Type: Letter)

Chemical References

• Allergens
• Egg Proteins, Dietary
• Milk Proteins

Topics

• Allergens (analysis, immunology)
• Animals
• Egg Hypersensitivity (diagnosis, immunology)
• Egg Proteins, Dietary (analysis, immunology)
• Egg White (chemistry)
• Egg Yolk (chemistry, immunology)
• Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel
• Milk (chemistry, immunology)
• Milk Hypersensitivity (diagnosis, immunology)
• Milk Proteins (analysis, immunology)
• Patch Tests (methods, standards)
• Quality Control
• Reproducibility of Results