The Usefulness of Serum Total IgE Test by Multiple Allergosorbent Test-Chemiluminescent Assay(MAST-CLA): Comparison with Paper Radioimmunosorbent Test(PRIST)

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: Multiple allergosorbent test-chemiluminescent assay(MAST-CLA) is a semiquantitative method for detecting total IgE and specific IgE in serum. The purposes of this study are to investigate the correlation between MAST-CLA and Paper radioimmunosorbent test(PRIST), and to find out whether MAST-CLA can replace PRIST in measuring of serum total IgE. METHODS: Data of 162 subjects were analyzed by linear regression analysis for MAST-CLA (MAST class) and PRIST(PRIST IgE, PRIST class, PRIST log10 IgE). Diagnostic sensitivity, specificity, efficiency, positive and negative predictive values were calculated by standard methods. RESULTS: The sensitivity of MAST-CLA was 64.0%, specificity was 56.0%, efficiency was 56.0%, positive predictive value was 87.2% and negative predictive value was 21.8%. The overall correlation coefficiency(r) of total IgE between MAST class vs PRIST IgE was 0.176(P<0.05), MAST class vs PRIST class was 0.308(P<0.001), MAST class vs PRIST log10 IgE was 0.301(P<0.001). According to age classification, good correlation was obtained in the 3-6 yr age group(MAST class vs PRIST IgE r=0.283, P<0.01, MAST class vs PRIST log10 IgE r=0.377, P<0.001), but there were no significant correlation in the 7-10 yr age group and in the 11-15 yr age group. CONCLUSION: A different correlation was observed between the two tests according to age, so we suggest that simultaneous use of PRIST should be performed considering the age when MAST-CLA is used as an atopy screening.