The use of the MeDALL-chip to assess IgE sensitization: a new diagnostic tool for allergic disease?

BACKGROUND: Allergic sensitization is frequently present in asthma and rhinitis, but the role of specific immunoglobulin E (s-IgE) is not always clear. Multiple s-IgE analyses may provide insight into this relationship, thus a microarray chip was developed within the EU-funded MeDALL project. The main objective was to evaluate the performance of the MeDALL-chip compared to ImmunoCAP and skin prick test (SPT) in detecting allergic sensitization in children and secondarily to investigate the association to asthma and allergic rhinitis.

METHODS: From the 'Environment and Childhood Asthma Study', 265 children were investigated at 10 and 16 yr of age with clinical examination, interview, SPT, ImmunoCAP, and the MeDALL-chip including 152 allergen components in the analysis.

RESULTS: Allergic sensitization at 10 yr was more frequently detected using the MeDALL-chip (38.1%) compared to the ImmunoCAP (32.8%) (p = 0.034) and SPT (25.5%) (p < 0.001), but no significant difference was seen at 16 yr (MeDALL-chip 49.8%, ImmunoCAP 48.6%, SPT 45.8%). The MeDALL-chip did not differ significantly from the ImmunoCAP or SPT in terms of detecting allergic sensitization in subjects with rhinitis or asthma at 10 or 16 yr.

CONCLUSION: The prevalence of allergic sensitization increased by all three diagnostic tests from 10 to 16 yr was similar by SPT and ImmunoCAP and significantly higher with the MeDALL-chip at 10 yr. All three tests were comparable for identification of allergic sensitization among children with current rhinitis or asthma.