Allergy In Vitro

2023 Author: Abraham Higgins | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-11-27 23:16

According to the WHO, 40% of the world's population suffer from allergies today. Complicating the situation is the fact that this disease is often mistaken for ARVI or, conversely, suggesting the possibility of allergy where it does not exist, they start taking antihistamines. Only a doctor can make a preliminary diagnosis, and to confirm it, special studies are required, experts remind.

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According to the WHO, 40% of the world's population suffer from allergies today. This is largely due to the weakening of immunity, the increasing use of toxic substances, the desire for sterility, because of which the body becomes suspicious and sees danger even in ordinary substances. Complicating the situation is the fact that allergies are often mistaken for acute respiratory viral infections or, conversely, suggesting the possibility of allergies where there is none, people start taking antihistamines.

Only a doctor can make a preliminary diagnosis of allergies, experts remind. For example, in the event that the characteristic symptoms appear from year to year at the same time. But to confirm the diagnosis, special studies are required - skin and application tests, screening laboratory programs. Rinat Gimadiev, head of the general clinic of the LabQuest laboratory, is talking about the possibilities of modern diagnostics of "Mednovosti".

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In protection mode

Allergy is nothing more than the individual susceptibility of the immune system to a certain substance, which can be perceived as a serious threat. The reasons for this phenomenon have not yet been established, there is no clear understanding of why the immune system selectively remembers a substance and reacts negatively to it. Normally, the immune system detects potentially dangerous substances (antigens) for the body and tries to protect the body from them - to neutralize or even destroy. But for the immune system of an allergic person, anything can become an irritant - from the fur of a domestic cat to pollen of spring flowers and medicines. Moreover, a person can perceive this or that substance quite normally for decades, and then suddenly feel its intolerance.

The reaction of each patient to the same allergens is also different. Most often, symptoms are expressed in inflammation of the nasal mucosa, tearing, sneezing, dry cough, shortness of breath, reddening of the skin, swelling of the lips, tongue, larynx. The intensity of symptoms is also different, the most severe of which can even be harbingers of anaphylactic shock, when emergency measures are required to save a person.

Dubious legacy

Today, allergy does not belong to hereditary diseases, but the possibility of a predisposition to its development exists. And if it is impossible to predict the "acquired" allergy, it can manifest itself in any period of life, then the "hereditary" one can be calculated with some degree of probability. There is a certain degree of probability that the disease will be transmitted from an allergic person to other generations, and this applies not only from parents, but also distant relatives. Allergic rhinitis, bronchial asthma, urticaria, Quincke's edema, and atopic dermatitis are most often associated with family history. But even here, not everything is unambiguous - the development of allergies is influenced by many accompanying factors, including social ones.

Antibodies against antigens

Today, molecular allergy diagnostics, based on the determination of specific antibodies to individual components in the composition of allergens, has become widespread. We are talking about the mechanism of work of cells of the immune system that protects the body - lymphocytes. One type of such cells - T-lymphocytes - destroys body cells that have been damaged to some extent by antigens. Another - B-lymphocytes - are responsible for the production of immunoglobulins (IgG, IgM, IgA, IgD, IgE), represented by a protein that suppresses the action of antigens. Immunoglobulin is also called an antibody. For each antigen, the body produces a specific antibody. So, if IgG, IgM, IgA, IgD fight viruses and bacteria, then IgE - against parasites.

And it is the increased IgE content that indicates a tendency to allergies, and a low level of IgE antibodies indicate a small likelihood of an allergic disease. Therefore, tests for the detection of IgE antibodies are now considered traditional quality tests. However, the level of IgE antibodies in the blood can vary. It depends on many factors, including the course of allergies, changes associated with the use of drugs. And, here, an accurate quantitative IgE test helps to reveal the true picture of what is happening, although it is considered quite difficult. In Russia, test systems have been used for a long time for the simultaneous determination of IgE to 112 allergic components from 51 sources.

Another important indicator of research effectiveness is standardization. The most specific in this area is the ImmunoCAP technology. This is a fairly successful test system for accurately measuring the level of IgE antibodies, designed specifically for the diagnosis of allergies in clinical practice. ImmunoCAP is capable of performing up to 1400 tests per day (depending on the model used) and is now actively used in allergy diagnostics. According to its results, this study is comparable to skin tests, but safer, as it excludes contact with allergens.

Allergy tests in vitro

Among other modern screening laboratory programs that also do not require the application of allergens to the skin and damage to the epidermis is immunoblotting. This highly specific and sensitive method of allergological tests, based on the use of strips (when extracts of 20/22/36 and more allergens are applied to universal panels). It is recommended for the diagnosis of most types of allergies (food, animals, dust, mold, pollen) and helps to identify a group of causative allergens, even if they are present in the body in ultra-low concentrations. In addition, a comprehensive study allows one sample to get answers for a large number of allergens at once and, unlike other studies, requires less serum (blood). There are many panels today,so that research can be optimized for a specific set of allergens and a specific region.