M. Plebani et al., CLINICAL-EVALUATION OF A NEW QUANTITATIVE METHOD FOR SPECIFIC IGE ANTIBODIES, European journal of clinical chemistry and clinical biochemistry, 34(7), 1996, pp. 579-584
We studied the analytical and clinical efficiency of a ''second genera
tion'' technique for the in vitro determination of specific IgE, the s
o-called CARLA system (Capture Assay Radim Liquid Allergen). Reproduci
bility studies demonstrated satisfactory intra- and inter-assay analyt
ical imprecision. The linearity test gave good results, and no signifi
cant interference by non-specific total IgE was found. The diagnostic
efficiency of the system for the five most representative aeroallergen
s (D1, Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus; E1, Cat's epithelium; G5, Loliu
m perenne; W19, Parietaria officinalis and W5, Arthemisia absinthium)
was evaluated using the Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) analys
is in eighty-nine patients with suspected inhalant allergies. For each
aeroallergen the area under the ROC curve and the most efficient thre
shold were calculated. Satisfactory areas under the ROC curve were fou
nd for D1, G5, E1 and W19, while a lower diagnostic efficiency was obs
erved for W5. The most efficient thresholds differed from one allergen
to another, although the differences were not great.