Diagnostic value of basophil activation test in food allergy in children / 中华实用儿科临床杂志

ABSTRACT

At present,diagnostic programs of food allergy in children mainly include medical history,skin prick test,detection of serum specific immunoglobulin E (sIgE) antibody,food challenge test,and so on.Among them,skin prick test and detection of sIgE antibody are used as primary screening tests with high diagnostic sensitivity while low specificity.Additionally,double-blind placebo-controlled food challenge test is the gold standard for the diagnosis,but it is faced with a potential risk of causing systemic allergic reactions,resulting in its rare application in clinic.Moreover,basophil activation test,as an in vitro test for allergen diagnosis,has significant value in diagnosis of food allergy in children due to its high specificity and safety.Besides,basophil activation test can also be used to evaluate the severity of food allergy in children,monitor immune therapy,detect trace allergens,and so on.