Allergy Chip Detects Allergens from Dried Blood Cheaply

Dried blood samples provide just as much information as fresh serum

The main finding is as follows: The dried blood samples taken by a doctor produce the same results as analysing fresh serum. And this is true no matter how long the dried specimen has been in a plastic envelope or in the post or at what temperature it was applied. Says Garib: “We measured it at temperatures of +37°C, -20°C and +4°C. The result was always the same.” The test involves stamping a small piece out of the paper and mixing it with a liquid in a plastic thimble, filtering out the antibodies in a centrifuge and then applying it to the Allergy Chip.

“This means that we are now giving every doctor in the world the ability to obtain an analysis quickly and easily, even if they only have a few patients with suspected allergies and do not have a laboratory nearby, so that they can help patients quickly,” adds Valenta, also clarifying: “Of course, laboratories must not accept dried blood samples sent in by private individuals. A doctor must first establish whether the test is necessary and then take the blood sample properly and send it on.” And this would only cost the same as a standard letter, just a few euros. By way of comparison: sending a chilled, correctly protected and packaged blood sample by airmail costs between €250 and €400. At the same time, say the Vienna researchers, it is possible to use the dried blood samples and antibodies obtained from them to evaluate the efficacy of allergy-related immunotherapy treatments and to monitor treatment.

About the Allergy Chip

The Allergy Chip, which was co-developed at MedUni Vienna by Valenta’s working group, detects potential allergies by means of fluorescent-labelled antibodies. Currently, serum can be tested for more than 100 allergens at once, ranging from apple to pollen, from grasses, food allergens and bee stings right through to various essentially harmless substances in the environment, such as house dust. It is especially important to identify allergies in children at an early stage, to prevent subsequent chronic diseases such as asthma, for example. The Chip has now become established worldwide as the safest method for early detection of allergies.

 Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: „Determination of IgE and IgG reactivity to more than 170 allergen molecules in paper dried blood spots“. V. Garib, E. Rigler, F. Gastager, R. Campana, Y. Dorofeeva, P. Gattinger, Y. Zhernov, M. Khaitov, R. Valenta. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaci.2018.08.047.

The present study was produced within the framework of the International Network of Universities for Molecular Allergology and Immunology (www.inunimai.org), which currently incorporates ten countries. In addition to Austria, these are Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Russia, the Ukraine and Uzbekistan. The study was funded by the Austrian Science Fund FWF (http://www.allergy-research-program.at/cms/). Rudolf Valenta is also a member of the Comprehensive Cancer Center Vienna, MedUni Vienna/Vienna General Hospital.
www.meduniwien.ac.at

 

Contacts and sources:
Medical University of Vienna

Citation:  Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology
„Determination of IgE and IgG reactivity to more than 170 allergen molecules in paper dried blood spots“. V. Garib, E. Rigler, F. Gastager, R. Campana, Y. Dorofeeva, P. Gattinger, Y. Zhernov, M. Khaitov, R. Valenta. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaci.2018.08.047.    .

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