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Allergen Component Testing in the Diagnosis of Food Allergy

  • Food Allergy (T Green, Section Editor)
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Abstract

IgE-mediated food allergies are an important public health problem, affecting 5 % of adults and 8 % of children, with numerous studies indicating that the prevalence is increasing. Food allergic reactions can range in severity from mild to severe and life threatening. Accurate diagnosis of food allergy is necessary not only to provide appropriate and potentially life-saving preventive measures but also to prevent unwarranted dietary restrictions. The diagnosis of food allergy has traditionally been based on clinical history and food specific IgE (sIgE) testing, including skin prick testing (SPT), serum tests, or both. These tests tend to be extremely sensitive, but positive test results to foods that are tolerated are common. Studies of allergen component-resolved diagnostics (CRD) show that adjuvant use of this modality may provide a more accurate assessment in the diagnosis of food allergy, though the reported benefits are questionable for a number of major allergens. Furthermore, diagnostic cutoff values have been difficult to determine for allergens where component testing has been demonstrated to be beneficial.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by funding from the Mount Sinai K12 Research Career Development Program in Emergency Medicine through the NIH/National Heart, Lung & Blood Institute (5K12HL109005-04).

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The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Allergy and Immunology, Department of Pediatrics, Elliot and Roslyn Jaffe Food Allergy Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, One Gustave L. Levy Place, Box 1198, New York, NY, 10029-6574, USA

    Edith Schussler & Jacob Kattan

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  1. Edith Schussler
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Correspondence to Edith Schussler.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Food Allergy

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Schussler, E., Kattan, J. Allergen Component Testing in the Diagnosis of Food Allergy. Curr Allergy Asthma Rep 15, 55 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11882-015-0554-9

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